


Daryl and Rick Against the World

by Babygirl_Francesca



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU, Anal, F/M, Family Reunions, Lots of plot, M/M, Plot, Sweet, but lots of sex as well, not slow, sex and such
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-03-31 00:04:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13962975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babygirl_Francesca/pseuds/Babygirl_Francesca
Summary: Rick wakes up in the hospital after his coma, where Daryl Dixon is the only other surviving patient. The two band together to find Lori, Carl, and Merle-- but often end up going the wrong direction.





	1. The World Needs Rick Grimes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I have a few notes, and by that I mean a lot! I really recommend you read these for the story to make sense.  
> -AU starting at the first episode 'Days Gone Bye,' with Daryl being the the hospital too.  
> -Also I am taking 'artistic liberties' with what I believe Daryl's personality would be if Merle hadn't been around in the beginning. He's a little more like season eight Daryl!!!  
> -I might keep a lot of characters alive...  
> -Finally, this story is only set to be like five chapters long and COVER THE ENTIRE SERIES, so it may be hard to follow at times because I don't have long drawn out scenes over the course of several days, there are a lot of page breaks and such.
> 
> ok thank you for reading, xoxo.

Rick was over-heated and confused. He'd been blacking in and out for a while now, seeing different things each time. First he saw Carl who was teary eyed and standing by his hospital bed. At eight, Carl wasn't tall enough to be completely in Rick's line of sight, he could only see his son from his very furthest peripheral vision. Carl brought him a whole box of cards that were made by the kids in his class. One-by-one Carl held up the crayon decorated cards that read things like 'get well deputy,' and 'sorry you got hurt,' and 'thanks for saving us deputy," most of them with drawings of a nondescript deputy on the front. Rick had tried to respond, to tell Carl "hey, tell those kids thank you, I  _will_ get better," but just like his eyes refused to move, his lips refused to too.

Lori was the next person he saw, she held his hand and apologized for being a bad wife. In his mind, Rick was apologizing for getting shot. It was  _his_ job to protect  _his_ family, and he'd done a real bang-up job of that. After Lori was Shane who brought in ugly flowers in a vase that he was sure belonged to Shane's grandmother.

Rick opened his mouth once more, attempting to respond to Shane, and finally forced the words out, "that's a fancy vase you got there, partner, steal it from your grandma's?" Rick squeezed his eyes shut in surprise that the words had come out of his mouth. "Shane!  _did ya hear_ that!" Rick exclaimed, but when he opened his eyes again Shane was gone.

With control regained of his voice, he was able to look around. The first thing he noticed was that Shane was not, in fact, in the room, and that he hadn't been for quite a while if the dead flowers had anything to say for it. He figured at least Lori would have changed them-but then again maybe life had caught up with them. Rick wouldn't blame her for not visiting her comatose husband everyday.

Rick squeezed the familiar button in his fingers, the one that signaled the nurses to come. He pressed it several time, and when they didn't come he figured he may as well get up himself. He'd been lying in the hospital bed for God knows how long and he was sure getting up would be good for him.

Upon standing Rick wondered if maybe he'd been in that bed for longer than he thought, surely his body was atrophied that quickly. His position on the ground would say otherwise. "Nurse! Help!" He called out several times, but didn't hear anyone coming. As he was about to get up, after several minutes of being on the ground, Rick heard faint footsteps from outside his door. Quiet footsteps, either a real small nurse or someone who knew how to get around quietly. The door handle moved the wrong way once, and a pull, then it moved the right way and with a push the nurse entered the room.

Except, it wasn't a nurse. It was an average height man, who was built under the scant hospital gown and similar blue boxers that he was wearing. " _Shit_ man! I thought I was the only one in here." The man said, crouching down to help Rick get up on his feet.

"What do you mean, the  _only_ one in here?" Rick asked, his cop voice turning on despite his obvious physical disadvantage. His head cocked to one side, and his right eye brow lifted slightly. It was a look that oozed  _don't fuck with me._

"I'm not exactly sure myself. I've been in a coma for a week, I wake up about three hours ago in a hospital with no one in it. I've been going room to room trying to find something to fuckin eat or any sign a' life." He spoke, and reached out to steady Rick when he seemed unsure on his feet.

At the mention of food Rick's stomach growled loudly, and he was reminded of a burning need for water in his throat. Turning deftly on his foot (motor skills really were like riding a bike) Rick ducked into the bathroom and submerged his face in the sink. Straightening up, he turned back to the patient while wiping his mouth with his bare arm. "Don't worry about a thing, I'm a sheriff's deputy, Rick Grimes, and we'll get to the bottom of this together."

The kid seemed to stiffen up a bit, which Rick was used to. He looked like he'd seen a fair bit of action in his life and Rick couldn't blame him for being wary of cops. Now, a sheriff's deputy was a little easier on the tongue and psyche than one of those Atlanta PD, but he knew a fair share of backwoods folks who thought every day of the year was hunting season, and this kid looked like he might know a thing or two about that. Finally, the kid seemed to realize he had no other option, so he stuck his hand out and said in his curt country drawl. "I'm Daryl, Daryl Dixon."

Rick shook his hand once and didn't bring up the fact that Rick was on a first name basis with another Merle, who was considerably older, rotting in a penitentiary around here, and more likely than not was this kids father. "It's nice to meet you Daryl. Now if you wouldn't mind explaining to me what's going on?" Rick asked. Everything on the inside was screaming  _red alert_ at him, but he'd been trained to keep people calm, and Daryl seemed flighty enough without a cop flying off the handle around him.

"Not much man, some whacked up shit I can tell you that. I woulda left but uh, outside, uhm, outside didn't seem that  _safe_ ya'know?" Rick nodded along, figuring that was bravado for  _I was scared,_ the kid continued: "I've been walking around, just this floor and I saw a body, like the dead kind--the eaten kind of dead kind. Like a dog got to her or something, her entire middle was missing, it was messed up man. Then I round the corner 'cause I hear this noise, I think it's the nurses you know, coming for like a  _clean up on aisle six._ This is my first time in a hospital, so I thought it was kinda weird but maybe this is what rick folks are used too? I dunno. I walked around the corner and it was a door, locked up and real hastily written ' _DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE'_ I think it's nothing big like the morgue maybe? So I walk closer but there were fucking  _fingers_ trying to squeeze through the door, and I got freaked man. Those weren't fucking human. Or they were but-"

Rick could tell Daryl was rambling to try and comprehend everything that was happening so he shushed him politely. "Can you take me back there Daryl?" Rick asked and the kid turned white as a sheet. "Never mind, it's right around the corner? Stay here."

Rick wasn't exactly the bravest man in the world but he could tell that Daryl was freaked out, and he could also tell that Daryl was freaked out  _because_ he was freaked out. He looked like a rough-and-tough moonshine type of man, the type that wouldn't be scared of anything. So whatever this was, Rick proceeded with caution. And he also proceeded to see everything that Daryl said he would. The half eaten corpse and the door with blackened fingers poking out.

This was the King County Hospital and Rick knew it like the back of his hand from having an eight year old son, and having grown up in the area. That wasn't the morgue, it was the fucking cafeteria.

Rick was breathing heavily as he made his way back to the room where he'd left Daryl. "We gotta  _go!_ I have to find my wife and kid. You can stick with me or stay here. Either one." He said quickly, looking around the room for anything he could wear. Not finding anything, he decided to just give up and go. Leaving the room Rick wasn't surprised that Daryl trailed behind him, staying about half a hall away but still behind him. Going down the stairs Daryl was always a flight above but Rick held open the door for him at the bottom.

"Listen kid, if you're with me, you're with me. No ifs ands or buts. Stick close." Rick warned.

"I ain't no kid." Daryl said petulantly and Rick gave him the look. To be fair, Daryl was probably only thirty to Rick's forty, and Rick knew how frustrating it could be, being seen as a 'kid' so he made a mental note to knock it off.

"Got it, now close behind Daryl." Rick said as he walked into the courtyard. The bodies he definitely wasn't expecting, maybe there was a disease or something? Whatever it was it just furthered Rick's resolve and he broke out into a gentle run. His house was in the first neighborhood across the park from the hospital. With any luck, Lori and Carl just weren't allowed in the hospital because of the disease. All of his machines were working, maybe the nurses just turned on the backup generators and were evacuated by the CDC or some shit-but Rick knew somewhere that was all far-fetched.

Daryl, to his benefit, was keeping up nicely and in no time they arrived at Rick's front door. They hadn't come across a single living thing other than the occasional bird and Rick was starting to freak out.

"Carl!? Lori!? CARL!? LORI!?" He called as soon as he entered the house. The door wouldn't be unlocked unless they were in there, Rick had instilled a sense of danger in them. They weren't in the house. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Rick muttered, leaning over one of their granite counter-tops (Lori had picked out the pinkish color) and folding his head into his arms in a defeat pose.

Daryl was uncomfortably standing in the corner but approached Rick after a moment. "Rick," Daryl called softly, almost as if testing the name out on his tongue. "Rick," he repeated but slightly louder. "There's someone outside." He said, coming up to stand next to Rick and to point out the window at a dour faced black man and his younger counterpart.

Rick perked up at that, someone who might know what's going on. "Stay behind me," Rick reminded as he moved towards the door. Carl and Lori weren't forgotten about, they were in the forefront of his mind as he tried to find new information. He could school his emotions well, and while he'd almost had a breakdown at that counter, Daryl had brought him back to reality and he policed himself. Walking out the door, Rick gave a soft call the the man and his son.

"Hey, sir!" Rick called, which immediately got the barrel of a gun pointed at his nose. Rick's hands rose into the air and he started to stammer out an apology or a reasoning when Daryl stepped in front of him.

Daryl put his hand loosely in the waist band of the boxers he was wearing and stared the man down. "Hey, you better back the fuck up or I will fuck you up. Lower your weapon now, you sure as hell don't want to see which of us is a quicker shot." Daryl bluffed, obviously he didn't have a gun in his shorts, but the man seemed more worried for the safety of his kid than for the logic of Daryl's story.

The gun was lowered and if Rick had had a moment he would have contemplated just how resourceful that move on Daryl's part had been. Maybe the kid was finally getting it together and his fear was disappearing.

* * *

With things sorted out, and the four of them retreated back into Rick's house, Morgan had opened up a little and explained what exactly was going on, which seemed just as confusing as not knowing because Morgan didn't seem to have a clue either.

Rick brought Daryl some clothing and got dressed himself while he chatted with Morgan a bit more. The man seemed like he was an upstanding citizen, he said that he'd heard of the accident that Rick had been in and Rick saw no reason not to trust Morgan. After a little more prodding Morgan admitted that he had no idea where Lori or Carl would be. "The second my wife died I just went for a full radio silence. I heard the cities were being turned into safe zones, but I didn't hear which ones and I honestly have no idea where your family could be." Is what Morgan told them. Rick thought briefly of Lori's parents that were just South of Atlanta, but Atlanta seemed risky. After a car alarm had gone off and the walkers had flocked in a group of almost ten to that Rick couldn't even begin to imagine just what a big city would be like. Rick didn't want to think that his family could be somewhere that potentially dangerous.

"What about you Daryl? We've told each other our stories, what's yours?" Morgan asked, not unkindly.

Daryl let out a small huff and almost seemed embarrassed to answer, but finally he spoke up. "Born and raised in deer country by my piece a' shit father and older brother Merle. Pops's in prison and I don't know where the Hell Merle got off to. I was in the hospital for a uh... Well it was a heroin overdose, not on purpose I promise I ain't one of  _those_ type, Merle just finally roped me in to trying it out. I got freaked, called the police on myself, they checked me into the hospital basically while booking me. I'm guessing my stuff's at the lock up-and then I blacked out." He admitted.

Rick would absolutely not have guessed that was the story Daryl would have, but he supposed that everyone comes from different walks of life. Rick supposed he wasn't  _too_ far off, but he hadn't factored the drugs into the whole thing. Rick figured Leon would have responded to that type of call, and if that were true then Daryl's stuff most likely was in the lock up, along with a medley of guns, and Rick's sheriff uniform.

After a few moments of silence, Rick spoke up. "I think we should head down to the station. If what you say, Morgan, about getting them in the head is true than we can take some of the kitchen knives for the way down there and then on the way back we'll have an arsenal." Rick suggested and got no complaint.

On the way out of the house they all remained fairly quiet but he heard Morgan and Duane quietly talking about what sounded like Duane's mother, who was one of them.

Daryl got the first stab at taking out one of the walkers and did better than Rick had expected. In just over the course of a few hours Daryl had evolved from a scared kid to a confident hunter. Rick took the second, but he was a little slower and the thing got a few air fulls of empty bit at him before he finally drove the knife into it.

The thing that was really getting Rick was that not all of the walkers looked dead. Some of them, of course, had the missing parts of the face or were hobbling around with broken legs. Some of them, however looked perfectly normal except for an off gait and usually an inconspicuous bit mark. Rick, thankfully, didn't see anyone he knew on the way.

The department was empty and they got in easily enough, locking the doors behind them with a simple turn lock. Rick found his suit and his guns, and Daryl found and assortment of things that belonged to him, including a brand-new looking crossbow with about twenty bolts in the quiver. Morgan, Rick, Daryl, and Duane traded the guns up among themselves. Duane got a small gun, Rick took his own Colt Python, Morgan looked comfortable with a military grade weapon, and Daryl uncomfortably accepted a handgun, but looked more at one with his bow.

"Well, what's the plan now Rick?" Morgan asked.

"That's not up to me Morgan, I think you're best suited to make the decision, you've been in this the longest." Rick countered.

"I've been in this two weeks longer than you Rick, and I hadn't even managed to leave my neighborhood. You've been in it for less than a day and you've already made me and my boy safer? I think you call the shots." Morgan said, Duane gave a small nod, and Daryl too off to the side bobbed his head once in agreement.

Rick thought for a good long moment about his plan of action before finally coming up with something. "I think Atlanta is out best bet. but Fayette and Coweta County also lead SouthWest into it. I think out best bet is to circle around long and go in through the North. That's the industrial areas. There's not a lot of wide open spaces so it would be easier to get trapped, but it also wouldn't have been a good place to put refugees. I say we take advantage of the tall buildings and scope it out from there.

"Rick Grimes, I think that sounds like a plan." Morgan agreed.

"It's workable." Daryl agreed.

* * *

Things went well on their way skirting around the edges of Atlanta. They didn't come across any groups bigger than eight and Daryl knew the back roads well enough that with them in one police cruiser and Morgan and Duane in the other, they could just about get the city vehicles around alright. Daryl was quiet for most of their rides but Rick tried to break the silence often.

They were around day three of the drive when Daryl started to speak up a little bit. "Thank for helping me back at the hospital." He mumbled in his gruff voice.

"Hey no problem. And I wouldn't think of it like that, you saved my ass man. If it hadn't been for you I would probably still be back at my house, thinking about what I've lost." Rick stated, keeping his eyes on the road, though it was early in the morning and he couldn't go more than 45 unless he wanted to hit a deer.

"I don't get it, how are you able to move past it so quickly? I barely even liked my brother-fucker tried to kill me, and I still can't stop thinking about how much I wish he were here." Daryl said, speaking up a little bit out of a mumble so Rick could hear him a bit clearer. Daryl hadn't talked much about his brother, but from what Rick could gather Daryl was basically raised by him.

"We're just thinking differently. You think your brother is dead, I know my family is alive." Rick explained. "It's hard to just tell someone to believe, but it's what I learned on the force. They tell you that for kids under fifteen, the best thing to give them is false hope-they're parents are in a coma, just make sure to tell the kids that mom'll wake up soon and then the kid doesn't have time to be sad because they're waiting for them to get better. On the flipside, they tell you to do the opposite for adults. My mom was in a car crash when I was eighteen, not on the force yet and I still remember the prick of an officer telling me to expect the worse. It just made everything seem sadder, ya'know? She lived, with minimal injuries so it was a big relief and I always blamed the officer for making that a dark point of my life. Way I see it, everyone needs some false hope, and if believing my wife and kid are alive is what keeps me going, then I'll stick to it." Rick finished.

Daryl stared out the window for a long time, taking deep breaths in, and out, in, and out. Rick wondered for a moment if he was having a panic attack for a moment before Daryl turned to his side, look Rick directly at the profile, and with an oddly childish grin for someone his age Daryl said: "I bet my brother's killing all these undead suckers right now. We'll find both of them okay Rick? I won't leave you until we find your Lori and Carl, and you won't leave me until I find Merle." Daryl held out his hand for a gentleman's agreement and Rick couldn't help but grin back as he shook Daryl's hand.

He figured that Shane was with Lori and Carl. He also figured that Lori was a distraught wife and that Shane was showing her some 'comforts' that only a man could show her. He figured they probably started going at it as soon as he was in the coma. Back in highschool Rick and Shane both had a crush on Lori, but while Shane had been distracted with seducing their cute young math teacher for a better grade, Rick had made his move on Lori. Their friendship was never quite the same, and Rick always wondered if Lori hadn't secretly wanted Shane.

"Ya'know, I think my wife is probably cheating on me." Rick spoke out loud to no one in particular. Daryl was sitting there, but Rick didn't care if the man responded or not. Another long pause went by when Daryl finally said something.

"Her loss." Was all he said before leaning his head against the car window.

Rick pondered for a moment on what that meant. Rick would still love Lori, he still wanted to see her safe and happy and healthy, but he wondered how much he would care if he found them and Lori was cheating. Rick couldn't say that he was completely in love with Lori anymore either. He'd realized when he was about twenty one that he was bisexual and that he also liked his gender a bit more than the opposite. But Rick wasn't ever going to leave Lori so he hadn't ever really thought about it. Is that what Daryl had meant? Was that his way of flirting? Rick thought it was a bit inappropriate for Daryl to be flirting with a married man who may have just lost his wife and kids, so against his better judgement Rick lightly slung his arm over the back of Daryl's seat, in an intimate and protecting pose.

* * *

Things started to go bad almost immediately as they entered Atlanta. They had arrived later that afternoon and had decided to continue on foot. Climbing up the ladder on the side of a building all of them saw a white van speed by and pulled themselves up close to the ladder. Morgan was the last one up and as he pushed Duane to help him into the open window Morgan lost his footing and fell about thirty feet to the ground, just in time for the white van to come creeping by the alley again.

Duane started to lean out the window to shout but Rick caught the boy and clamped his hand over his mouth as they people in the van got out and expertly picked up the unconscious Morgan, getting him in the van and carting him off. Daryl was the first one to fly out the window, grabbing onto both sides of the ladder and sliding down, Rick could only imagine how raw his hands would be, but Daryl hit the ground running and took off after the van. "You go down next Duane, but do  _not_ move until I get down." Rick warned.

He didn't know where Morgan was taken to or why, but he did know that Morgan would be expecting Rick to take care of Duane for him in his absence. Duane nodded shakily and started to lower himself back down the ladder, Rick following after. Once they rounded out of the alley they could just barely see Daryl in the distance sprinting after the van.

Rick motioned to a car that had the doors wide open and Duane slid in as Rick expertly started it with a screw driver from his bag. The doors shut as he tore out down the street, walkers starting to come out of the alley from the sound of one car after another peeling down.

Soon enough they caught up to Daryl who effortlessly got into the car with Rick barely having to slow down. They were in hot pursuit of the van and easily gaining on it as they rounded a last corner onto a street that emptied out into Grady Memorial Hospital. Rick slammed on the breaks as the van went into the parking lot, but only stopped for a moment to think before he followed it in. He wasn't about to let Morgan just be taken.

Coming up to park next to the van, everyone who got out of it was wearing an Atlanta Police Department uniform and looked majorly pissed at Rick. "What the  _fuck_ are you doing following us?" A woman asked, a biting edge to her voice.

"You took Duane's father." Rick bit back, not ready to deal with whatever this woman was prepared to say.

"He fell three stories, we just wanted to take him back to the Hospital." The woman said, her temper not evening at all.

"And you didn't stop to wonder if he was with anyone?" Daryl spoke up, his arm protective around Duane.

"Listen kid, most people around here are on their own at this point. Now, we have a doctor who can fix your dad right up if you just give it some time. Let us save his life, then you can work off the supplied we used on you, and then you can go."

* * *

Daryl and Rick hadn't been able to say no to her offer after they saw what bad of shape Morgan was in, and it was just over two months before he was actually able to get up and going. The whole time Daryl kept his nose down unless someone was too nasty to him, and Rick had gotten into the fold because he'd been a deputy. Neither of them liked what was happening at Grady Memorial and it was making them question when exactly the officers were going to let them leave. All three of them working, four now that Morgan was back up, had to have been more than enough time to pay off their debt.

The two spent almost every night in the same room, one of them taking the arm chair and the other taking the bed. They didn't like the place that they were in, but they weren't going to leave Duane and Morgan alone. Every day that passed Rick got more jittery about finding his family, and Daryl started to lose hope again that his brother was alive.

Sitting on the bed next to each other and both staring blankly out the window, neither of them wanted to break the silence.

"Two months." Daryl finally said.

"I know." Rick agreed. They both knew it was too long for them to have been there, they should have been on the move, scouting around and not living the  _kush_ life up in the hospital. They heard stories of other people who were carted in, it wasn't pretty out there and Rick had a sick feeling in his stomach thinking about everyone else that was still out there.

"We have to get out tonight." Daryl mumbled and his breathing quickened slightly. Rick had learned by now that Daryl didn't much like dangerous plans. He seemed more than content to run headfirst into danger, but given the option Daryl would always pick to make a plan up as he went than to pre-plan it and have time to think about everything that could go wrong.

Rick placed his hand lightly on Daryl's leg, a comforting technique that he had learned Daryl liked. Daryl would rest his palm lightly on top of Rick's hand until he got himself under control, and finally Daryl did.

That night, the four of them found themselves in a stand-off, one of the officers pointing her gun directly at Duane and threatening the other three that unless they wanted Duane dead, they would stay and work.

Rick, Daryl, and Morgan were all armed and raised their weapons back in defiance but the woman didn't seem to care that they would die, she was confident that they would do anything to save Duane, and they would have.

It was just a mistake that one of the patients had a night terror at that exact moment and started screaming bloody murder. The female officer didn't even seem to realize she'd done it, but she pulled the trigger directly into Duane's forehead, which released a hailstorm of bullets onto their whole troop, decimating their numbers and taking out almost every single one of them who was temporarily blinded by the fact that a kid had just died.

Daryl and Rick left, Morgan stayed behind to finish the job, but Rick shouted a few words quickly at him, not quite ready to let the man go. 

"Morgan, please, we have to get out of here. We can talk about this later but  _right now_ there's more officers in here somewhere and they're on their way  _now_!" Rick urged but Morgan just shook his head.

"I have to do this Rick. I can't go. You led us this far. I  _will_ find you Rick Grimes, I had  _better_ find you Rick Grimes, because the world  _needs_  Rick Grimes, and when I come back from this,  _I'm_ going to need Rick Grimes." 


	2. Stay Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you guys for all the reviews!!! In this chapter there is some stuff about the Atlanta group, quite a few more changes to canon... Also! I was wondering how long the group was at Hershel's farm and the official walking dead timeline (which I've thought was wrong in the past...) stated that they were only there for thirteen days, so that's what I'm going off of. Thank you so much for reading, this chapter is a little more explicit. xoxo.  
> Other non-canon things:  
> Michonne doesn't find Andrea.  
> The farm house does not burn down.  
> Eugene's radio works (for at least a little while, before it runs out of batteries and he never wants to get new ones)  
> Maggie has a broken ankle and doesn't meet almost any of the Atlanta group  
> and Rick and Daryl go even further the wrong way :'(

_The Atlanta Group, during the time that Daryl, Rick, Duane, and Morgan were at Grady Memorial Hospital. Very close to the time that Daryl and Rick escape._

"I swear to  _god_ if you leave me here! I'll kill you! You can't do this man! You can't!" There was a crashing sound at the street-level and Merle knew that would be the walkers coming into the building.

Merle was about to make his escape, he spied a fire stair that he was sure he could jump to from the roof of the building, but a small twinge in his gut told him that he couldn't just leave T-Dog hand-cuffed to the roof. Call it a conscious or whatever, Merle called it his Inner Daryl and it was telling him not to sentence this guy to death. His feet hesitated and he turned around, tossing the key to the handcuffs at T-Dog-his aim was true and they landed almost directly next to the man, but before T-Dog could beat him to a bloody pulp Merle vaulted himself off the side of the building; hitting the fire escape harshly and much to the protest of his knees.

These had been going bad for a while and the little group that had been sent into Atlanta was now scattered across the city. Glenn hadn't been seen or heard from since he'd gone to check out the sound of a car in the North side, Jacqui had been taken out by walkers, Andrea and Morales he thought were in another section of the building, so that had just left him and T-Dog with a pair of handcuffs.

They had actually been trying to work things out and get out of this whole thing alive but as soon as Merle made one race comment T-Dog flew off the handle and decided to graphically describe just how dead Merle's brother was. It wasn't like Merle was holding out a lot of hope that Daryl was alive but Merle knew that if Daryl had died in that hospital it was his fault. His fault that Daryl was there in the first place, he just needed a bit of peace in his life. Merle had considered going back to the hospital for a while but another couple from around King County had told him their cop friend had been in the hospital and the last they'd heard on the news was that it was locked up good and more or less overrun. So Merle wasn't holding out hope that Daryl was there, but that maybe Daryl had gotten out.

From the fire escape Merle quickly descended the stairs, his knees giving him shit the whole way down. When he hit the ladder he slid down with his hands on the sides of the rungs. The walkers were being attracted by the sound of broken glass so they weren't in the alley. Spying a semi poking it's head into the opposite end Merle got a small grin on his face. He'd been a truck driver (for about three weeks before he'd been fired for drunk driving) and was the self-proclaimed car-jacking world champion. So he hefted himself into the cab, pulled a snapping dead body out, and slid himself into the drivers seat. Most of the walkers were on the other side of the block so pulling the truck back out into the street was easy enough, and taking out any remaining ones was a simple task in the huge truck.

Merle worried momentarily about how everyone else was going to get back and if the group was going to be mad that he abandoned them, but Merle sure as hell wasn't a hero so he wouldn't go back for anyone.

* * *

Finally making it back to the group, Glenn was first noticed by Carl. Carl stood in their little parking area almost everyday with the small hope that one of the groups might bring his dad back. He knew it was a slim hope and his mother had already told him that Rick wasn't coming back. Carl had even begun to suspect that him mom was in love with Shane.

Most people wouldn't think a kid capable of that kind of stuff, but Carl had known his mother for eight years, so he was pretty quick to notice when friendship turned to romance. He was pretty upset with her, but wasn't going to mention it. He didn't want to make his mom more sad than she already is. He knew that she wasn't over his dad yet, just that she needed someone else to keep her company.

It was late in the afternoon when the first car rolled back in and Glenn slid out. It was a dinky little car that rattled when it came to a stop and Carl saw the word  _Civic_ on the back of it. Glenn looked worn out and when the group asked him where everyone else was he just hung his head and softly muttered "I don't know."

Dale had to pull Amy away from Glenn because she was bombarding him with questions about where Andrea was. Glenn seemed really upset so Carl was glad that Dale calmed down Andrea.

Shane and Carl's mom strolled out from where they had been off to the side of the RV, Shane had his arm draped softly around Lori's shoulders in a protective sense.

"I should have gone with you guys." Shane mumbled and looked upset.

"No," Glenn said. "It was a suicide mission. I'm just here to get some food and then I'm headed back to look for everyone."

"Glenn," Dale reprimanded, "you look like you've seen death, at least wait until tomorrow morning. They could be right behind you."

"They're not, I split off from the group because I heard something, followed a couple of cars to a hospital but it looked shady so I didn't want to get involved. I  _left_ everyone else and it's my responsibility to go back. They should have been headed back here while I checked the noises out." Glenn stated, and obviously his mind wasn't going to be changed.

"Let me go with you," Shane offered.

"You haven't even been in the city, you would just slow me down. Let me have some lunch and then I'll come back, with  _everyone._ " Glenn emphasized.

After Glenn had eaten and taken a quick nap, everyone expected him to be back by morning the next day, but he wasn't, and everyone else was.

Carl didn't know that many people in the group, but he had liked Jacqui because she had kids so she knew how to talk to him, he was sad that she didn't make it back. There was a funeral for Jacqui that day, and the next morning there was a similar small funeral for Glenn.

Carl noticed that T-Dog and Merle seemed more on edge around each other, but Carl also wasn't allowed to talk to Merle so he didn't know if he was acting that different. That night Shane said that they should move on and move out of the city area. He felt like it was too open and that they could easily be attacked if the walkers filed into the canyon.

Carl was a little upset to leave but he was hoping that if they went somewhere else maybe his dad would be there.

* * *

_Rick and Daryl_

"Listen I really need to get back to my group, they probably think I'm dead."

"Kid if you want out you're going to have to roll out of this car right into the herd. We ain't stopping and I betcha you ain't rocking the boat." Daryl said, not quite spitefully but definitely with a lot of force behind it.

"I know I know, just maybe at the next convenient time you can let me out, like if you see a car on the side of the road."

"Listen, Glenn was it? Yeah we're in farm country, so unless you wanna hop on a tractor or a horse, I can guarantee we're not going to find any cars just sitting on the side of the road." Rick explained. Glenn still looked mildly upset about everything, but decided to shut himself up before he made himself and everyone else more upset.

Daryl had been the one to spot Glenn, who was cruising around in a low rolling  _Honda Civil,_ going about five miles and hour and constantly looking out the windows. On their way out of Atlanta Daryl had urged Rick to steel a mustang, which wouldn't get as good of gas mileage as other cars, but would get them out of the city quickly. In a last bet to get walkers away from Grady Memorial and the gun shots, the two had honked their horn the entire way out of the city.

So they'd been almost out of the city when out of the corner of his eye Daryl saw Glenn coming up one of the side streets, only to miss a giant horde right in front of him. Daryl and Rick had back tracked and gotten Glenn into their car before peeling out. It had been messy and not very smart of them to go back for Glenn, but neither of them were going to let someone die right in front of them, not after Duane.

Glenn had been a little shocked and quiet for the first half of the drive, before prattling on about a group of survivors outside of Atlanta. Daryl and Rick had both had the thought that maybe their families were in the group but Glenn admitted that he had spent almost all of his time in the city scavenging and didn't even know all the names of the people he'd been in the scavenging party with. All Glenn remembered was that there was a man named Dale, who's RV he sometimes slept in, a pair of sisters named Andrea and Amy, and a cop from somewhere Glenn didn't remember.

The cop part had sparked hope in him but it was too much of a long shot. There were thousands of cops all around Georgia, and Rick couldn't even imagine his chances that it could be Shane. Glenn faintly remembered several little boys, so that also led to a dead end.

A little ways down the road they found a small farm with no cars in the drive or walkers in the field so they pulled in and got out warily, aware that there could still be people on the premises.

Daryl made a hand gesture for Rick to check out the barn and motioned for Glenn to follow him. While they were in Grady, it had often been their jobs to clear out surrounding buildings. It would have seemed like the perfect time to run away, but neither of them would have ever abandoned Duane and Morgan. On the course of their stay the two had gotten really good at communicating with each other silently and backing one another up. Daryl opened the door and banged on the wall three times, when no one came he entered.

He gave Glenn a two finger salute toward the kitchen and motioned himself to go upstairs. The old farmhouse stairs weren't as rickety as they seemed, but Daryl still kept his footsteps light as he went up.

At the top of the stairs Daryl was met with a sword at his neck and another one close by. "I'll kill you, I will." A woman grit out and Daryl swallowed nervously.

"I'm sure you will, but I'm not here to hurt you, we just wanted some place to spend the night." Daryl explained, then in a gesture of good faith he added. "I'm Daryl, Glenn's downstairs, and Rick's in the barn."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him before gently lowering her weapons and taking a step back. She looked like she was sizing him up for a moment before she stuck out a hand at him. "I'm Michonne, sorry for the theatrics, you just can't trust everyone now a'day." Daryl nodded to that and shook her hand.

"Anyone else in here?" He asked.

"Just me," she started. "Been here a few nights. There's a cellar of canned food and a well out back. Figured I'd shack up here a couple of days."

"Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all, I'm heading south west in about a week, heard a short clip on the radio about some scientist or another coming in through Shreveport. Said he'd be in Montgomery within a month or two so I figured I'd meet him there." She explained.

"Why would you do that?" Daryl questioned, and he noticed that Glenn had shown up at the bottom of the stairs.

"He's claiming that he knows what caused all of this and he needs an escort to help get him to D.C, I see no reason why I shouldn't believe him." Michonne said and Daryl thought for a long moment.

"I'll talk to Rick about it, we might want to tag along with you."

* * *

_Maggie Greene_

Maggie had surely drawn the short sticks recently, first the damn near apocalypse stars, next strangers show up at her farm, and finally she'd fractured her ankle right as they showed up.

Her daddy kept her bed-ridden and on high dosages of pain killers when she was awake, but he was afraid that it was never going to set correctly. Maggie felt bad that she didn't know any of the survivors who had shown up, just the one, Andrea that had made a run into town to get medical supplies for her. She and Andrea became friends, but Maggie couldn't get up and apparently a kid had been hurt, so no one new was coming up to meet her.

Everyday Hershel looked a little more glum about Maggie's healing, and said that it was slow going but "your body knows what it needs honey, don't fret yourself about it." Maggie did, in fact, fret herself about it. She especially started to fret when she heard gun shots coming from out the window.

With a great deal of difficulty she got herself out of the bed and over to the window, hobbling along with a huge makeshift cast on her foot that she could put exactly zero pressure on. Maggie couldn't see what was going on outside so she made her way to the door, it would be the first time she left in about thirteen days so she was slow going in trying to figure out how to get her door open, the stairs outright terrified her. She made it just to the bottom of the stairs when out the front door she saw a man shooting Patricia.

Maggie watched as she fell to the ground, and Maggie did too, passing out as the front door was slammed shut.

* * *

_Rick, Daryl, and Co._

Rick and Daryl woke up early one morning at the farm and were more tangled around each other than they had been when they had gone to bed, they'd been sharing because they were short and the two were used to being close. Rick woke up first and felt something softly poking into his side, as he glanced down, he noticed that Daryl had morning wood. Rick blushed, it wasn't that embarrassing, but he hadn't ever actually been around a guy that was hard.

Rick couldn't deny that he and Daryl were getting closer, and that the closer they got the more Rick tended to forget about Lori.

It was odd how Rick never for one second forgot about Carl, and how he was going to find him, but often enough he found himself thinking about leaning over and kissing Daryl, and not even wondering how Lori was doing.

When Daryl stirred Rick began to pull away, and Daryl noticeably tensed as he realized what was going on with his body. Daryl pulled away too and Rick was about to get up to give him his privacy, but before his brain could get ahead of his he clutched Daryl by the nape of the neck and pecked his lips softly.

"I'm going to go check out what's in the surrounding area." He said after he pulled away from Daryl. Daryl looked a little dazed and confused and watch as Rick walked away with a puzzled expression on his face.

Not ten minutes later Rick had burst back into the house and Daryl heard a shout of "Pack your stuff! We're moving out in seven minutes!"

The use of Rick's very police-like voice threw him into a hurried state, he'd hadn't even begun to process what Rick and he had just done, and he wished he would have more time before being shoved into a car with Rick and two other people.

Stumbling out of their room with a small duffel bag of stuff they'd accumulated at Grady, a larger duffel with the guns in it, and his crossbow slung over his shoulder Daryl saw Michonne and Glenn also exiting their respective rooms. Glenn was rubbing his eyes and Michonne looked like she had hastily gotten dressed. Daryl wasn't feeling as tired, Rick always got up ridiculously early and Daryl was up for the day once Rick was up, so he was feeling fine.

Rick had the car ready to go outside and the trunk open for everyone's things. They had discussed with Michonne travelling together and Rick had decided that going South would be an alright idea. After making the decision Michonne had disappeared into the surrounding forest for about two days and they were worried she'd taken off, but a few days later Michonne reappeared and no one asked her where she had been, respectful of her privacy.

The four of them fit fairly comfortably in the mustang and the bags all slid into the back, but they wouldn't be able to fit another person since there wasn't a middle seat in the back.

"So what's the deal, why are we up at the crack of dawn?" Michonne asked and Rick pointed over an outcropping of trees to where smoke was rising up into the air but looked quite a ways away.

"The smoke's gray so the fire's out or almost out, I thought I heard something last night but I didn't think... We should go make sure every is okay." Rick stated and motioned for everyone to get into the car.

"Woah, are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what-or who is over there." Glenn objected, but he was already in the car with everyone else.

"But if someone's hurt, we can't just leave them to die." Rick said, peeling out of the farm and down the road towards where the smoke was rising slowly.

Everyone seemed to agree that they should make sure no one was hurt, so Rick drove them straight there, noticing that walkers were starting to gather around where the fire had been. Obviously something bigger than just a fire had gone on here last night, now that Daryl thought about it, the noises he heard were probably gun shots. Daryl was starting to realize that in the new world, it was probably more important to be safe and get less sleep, than to ignore noises and sleep in.

As they got nearer Daryl could see that the fire was out but there were the smoldering remains of a barn just barely standing, next to an almost untouched house. Rick pulled into the drive and shut off the car, signalling everyone to be silent.

Daryl pointed Michonne towards the barn, Glenn towards the field, and took Rick with him towards the house.

"Listen, Daryl, about this morning I just wanted to say-" Rick started, but Daryl cut him off.

"It's fine Rick, really." Daryl finished. He wanted to talk about it, but this didn't really seem like the time to do it. Daryl was too focused on clearing the area at the moment.

"No Daryl, I really think we need to talk about this. I just wanted to know if-" Daryl cut Rick off once again with a grave finger to his lips, pointing a two finger salute into the house. Daryl had pushed the door open and there was a body laying on the floor, shallowly breathing. "Is she?" Rick questioned softly and bend down on his knees to check her pulse and make sure she was okay.

"Yeah, she's not a walker." Daryl assured and the woman started to stir lightly.

"RICK! WE HAVE TO GO! INCOMING!" Glenn yelled from outside and with little more thought Daryl scooped the wispy girl up in his arms and noticing that she had a huge cast on her foot.

"Looks like she may have gotten left behind." Rick mused, looking at her foot. "One sec, get her to the car I'll be right there." Rick promised and bolted up the stairs where it looked like she'd come down. There was one door open at the top landing, with a pair of crutches lying at the top of the stairs. He scooped them up and dashed back down the stairs, running towards the car to see a horde converging onto them. Rick slid into the drivers seat next to Daryl.

The girl was in the back seat, fluttering her eyes with her head in Michonne's lap and her feet bent but in Glenn's lap.

They drove South East towards Montgomery and the girl drifted in and out of consciousness. She was never awake for long enough to form coherent thoughts but it was getting longer and longer in between.

Finally, her eyes opened and she brought her closed fists up to rub at them. "Where am I?" She asked with a heavy drowsiness in her voice.

"You awake hun?" Rick asked from the front seat. It was starting to get late so he figured he would find someplace to pull over and spend the night. They were in a lightly suburban area. Definitely no farms, but rich people who wanted big gardens. There weren't a lot of walkers in this area so Rick pulled into an empty driveway of what looked like a three story house. They hadn't even made it to the border yet, but it was hard to move fast so they were only covering like twenty miles an hour, sometimes less.

"Yeah, yeah I think so." She said and Michonne helped her sit up, basically pulling the girl into her lap.

"We're heading towards Talladega before turning South towards Montgomery. We found you in the midst of ruble." Glenn explained, letting Rick focus on parking.

"Oh my god. Where's my family? My daddy? My sister?" She asked, suddenly panicked and trying to pull herself up even further, obviously feeling exposed because she was still kind of laying down.

"Shh, relax, you were the only left. There weren't really any bodies or anything yet and it looked like the walkers were just moving in. Your family may have gotten away. But I'm sorry we had to move and we didn't want to leave you behind."

The girl seemed to sober up a little and nodded to herself. "There was a group that was staying at the farm. I never met them because I was on bed rest but my family's probably with them." She explained, then added: "but they never would have left the state, I have to go back."

"It's alright, we're not going to be out of the state for long. We're meeting up with someone in Montgomery and then headed basically the same way we came. We can drop you off right back at the farm if you want us to." Glenn explained.

"I'm Maggie by the way, Maggie Greene."

"I'm Glenn, this is Rick, Daryl, and Michonne." He explained, giving her a small and reassuring smile before Rick announced it was time to get out and clear the house so they could sleep.

Daryl gave direction, as he usually did. "Glenn stay here with Maggie, Michonne and Rick with me."

Daryl liked that Rick would make all the big plans but he let Daryl call the small shots. Generally Daryl liked to have someone else make large decisions for him so all the blame wouldn't be put on him if things went wrong, plus Daryl was bred for making plays like this.

They knocked on the wall but nothing came to get them so they figured they were safe and ushered Glenn to bring Maggie in. He looped her arm around his shoulders and all but floated her into the house.

"Daryl and I will take downstairs, you guys take upstairs. We'll leave around nine tomorrow so get a lot of sleep. Remember, we're not in a hurry to get there, but we do need to find a new car tomorrow and some food." Rick explained and everyone broke apart. Glenn carried Maggie up the stairs and Michonne followed closely behind them.

Rick and Daryl set to walking around the rooms downstairs shutting blinds, closing curtains, and locking doors. There was a pantry with a little bit of canned fruit left in it, but they had enough canned peaches to last them a lifetime. What they really needed was probably medicine for Maggie, and food that would actually sustain them.

"Come on Rick, it's dark out and this place is locked up tight. Lets throw some blankets on the floor and get to bed." Daryl said and motioned to the living room where the previous residents seemed to have lived in blankets. With their sleeping bags and at least ten blankets it was very comfortable on the floor as the two settled in.

"So can we talk now?" Rick asked. They were both still basically fully clothed and above the covers, staring at the ceiling.

Daryl heaved a bit of a sigh and nodded. "I guess."

"I assume you don't really want to talk?" Rick asked.

A lot of thoughts were running through Daryl's mind and talking was certainly not one of them. There was half of him that wanted him and Rick to just be really close friends, and another half (okay a little bit bigger than half) that just wanted Rick to shut up and kiss him again. "Not really." He finally admitted.

Rick didn't speak for a while before finally rolling onto his side and staring at Daryl's profile until Daryl rolled over as well, looking into Rick's deep gray eyes.

"So, can I kiss you again?"

"What are you fifteen?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

Without further prompting Rick leaned in to capture Daryl's lips lightly in his own. Rick had never kissed another man before, but he had wanted to for quite a long time. He may have only known Daryl for about three months, but he really liked the man. He liked the man enough to forget about his own wife who was out in the world somewhere probably alone and afraid. Rick had to push thoughts of Lori out of his mind as Daryl's lips moved languidly against him.

After a few moments of gentle kissing Daryl rolled himself one more time so he was on top of Rick, straddling the mans thighs and supporting himself with his forearms as he continued to kiss Rick.

Without thinking about it much Rick bucked his hips up in Daryl's crotch, feeling and hearing that the man was receptive to his touching Rick reached his arms around to rest on Daryl's back and pushed his hips up as he pulled Daryl's down.

Daryl had to pull away from the kiss for a few moments as he simply took in the sensations of Rick's clothed dick against his. It was more action then he'd had in months, and it had been even longer since he truly liked the person he was doing things with. Daryl tentatively rolled his hips against Rick which got a soft sigh of pleasure from the man.

Rick moved his hands lower so they were gently cupping Daryl's firm and pert ass as he continued to pull them together; bucking, and rolling, and writhing against one another. Daryl moved his lips back down to Rick, but nipped at his jaw and moved up to his ear lobe, taking it softly in between his teeth and leaving laving wet kisses along Rick's sideburns. Shimmying a little down Rick's body Daryl attached wandering lips to Rick's lip and kissed, suckled, and bit at it while Rick continued to let out breathy pants and skewered his eyes shut.

" _Jesus Daryl_ ," Rick let out and slid his hand back up, then under Daryl's waist band, squeezing harshly at his firm backside.

" _Fuck_ Rick, damn I'm so close. You made me a fucking teenager again." That got a laugh from Rick as he pulled Daryl's lips back up to meet his.

The two met each other for a war-like kiss as their rutting became more animalistic and needy.

Rick's finger slid back to Daryl's puckered hole. He didn't have any oil so he wasn't planning on pushing inside, he was just teasing Daryl a little bit, testing new waters and seeing what was comfortable for both of them.

With one last harsh arch of his back Daryl pressed into Rick and came into him pants. Rick was following directly after-

But a scream from further up in the house had him up from Daryl and grabbing his gun, pleasure immediately forgotten about. "Stay here," Rick shout-whispered tersely and disappeared up the stairs.


	3. Tomorrow They Would Move On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first of all the "official" walking dead timeline is wrong. Like it says they've only been in the apocalypse for twenty months? When, based on Judith's age they've been in it for like two years. So I'm freaking confused, but I'm roughly basing my days off of what the timeline says.  
> Notes:  
> -yeah I know the interim between the farm and the prison was several months but whatever just roll with it and don't read to far into anything I say.  
> -If I mention random characters who should be dead or not with a certain group (like Andrea in the prison) that's just because I'm ambiguously making Rick's absence change random things.  
> -I have taken away four main characters from the prison group so I had to add some Woodburry people earlier than they should be at the prison. Just assume they thought that the prison might be safer/better and jumped ship. I haven't watched the prison seasons in forever so I don't exactly remember what order everything is in.  
> -sorry this one has a little less happening in it, hope I made up for that with the extra length/POVs and the sexy stuff. Next chapter has a big twist  
> xoxo thanks

_The Prison Group. Around the same time that Rick's group would be travelling towards Montegomery._

Carl was out with Merle in the woods, hunting game or just generally getting away from everyone else. There was an air of tension around the prison, and it wasn't that Carl didn't understand why, but sometimes he just needed to be away from everything and everyone. Ever since his mom got pregnant Carl felt a little detached from her and Shane. He had known since the Atlanta camp that she and Shane were up to something, but Carl never thought she would go as far as to get pregnant by Shane, especially in a time like this. Carl was frustrated by his mom, and Merle didn't mind Carl tagging along.

Merle didn't really remind Carl of his dad at all, but Merle said that Carl was pretty similar to Daryl, so he didn't mind having a teenager tagging along with him. Carl prided himself on being a pretty good shot too so they always came back with at least a few squirrels if not something bigger.

"Do you think your brothers still alive?" Carl asked. The two started talking to each other more around the time they got to the farm, and the last time Carl tried to bring something like this up Merle got really defensive and said he didn't want to talk about it. Carl figured that it had been long enough, and he really wanted to know.

Merle was silent for a long time before he stopped walking and looked down at Carl. "Do you think your dad is still alive?"

"Until I see his dead body, yes." Carl answered resolutely, not meeting eyes with Merle because he feared it would break his resolve. Carl hadn't given up on his dad yet. Everyone else had but Carl hadn't.

"Then my brother is still alive."

"Do you wanna hear something kind of dumb?" Carl asked and Merle rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Hit me baby bro." Merle said. Merle called most people 'bro' but he added 'baby' to Carl's which should probably make the teenager upset but it didn't, he knew it was a coping mechanism for Merle.

"I think that if we ever do find my dad he'll be with your brother. Like maybe dad's finding everyone that we've lost. I hope Glenn and Maggie are with him too. Even if they're… Even if they're together in heaven." Carl added. He hadn't known Glenn and Maggie very well but Carl could tell that Andrea was still upset about Glenn; and Hershel and Beth missed Maggie dearly. Beth had even offered to go back and look for Maggie but Shane swore the house burned down.

Merle ruffled Carl's hair lightly. "I bet they are Carl, I bet they are."

And that gave Carl a little bit more hope, because his mom would tell him to stop thinking about it and Shane would snap at him if he brought up anybody they'd lost.

Carl just wanted a little bit of hope in his life, and the last thing he would hold onto was the stalwart resolution that his father was still alive, and Carl would share his optimism with Merle. They needed each other, the last two sorry saps alive who hadn't accepted that their families were gone.

* * *

_Lori Grimes, same time._

It hadn't really taken her long to get over Rick, since she'd been cheating on him since shortly before the accident. Of course, everything had stopped as soon as Rick got hurt, but believing that her husband was dead had made her go right back to Shane.

It was that Lori didn't love Rick, she just didn't feel like same passion for him that she had before, and she was sure that Rick didn't either. Getting pregnant, however, was never in the equation. Lori could only really be embarrassed for Carl since everyone knew that Shane wasn't his father.

On one hand, Lori loved Carl's optimism, but on the other hand she wished that he could just forget about his father so that they could all move on. Lori felt like Carl was forcing all of them to live in the past and she was tired of trying to deal with it. At first she'd been adamant that he stay away from Merle Dixon but she couldn't seem to stop it and if Merle could keep Carl from constantly talking about Rick then that was fine by her. They had been at the prison for a few days now but Lori already felt safer than she had since any of this began.

She was eight months pregnant and it would be impossible for her to be on the run for any longer. She knew that one of the reasons Shane had been in such a hurry to clear out the prison was so that they would have a place for her to have her baby. Lori was grateful for what everyone was doing for her. Carol was learning how to deliver a baby, Shane had provided her shelter, and everyone else made sure to give her lots of rations even if it meant they were getting less.

In a way Lori liked being pregnant during this whole mess. Sure, she couldn't protect herself as well, but she also didn't need to be able to since she was being taken care of better than anyone.

Lori knew she was due basically any day and that her luck was probably going to come up short when she tried to deliver the baby, there would be something wrong and she most likely wouldn't make it through the delivery-more likely surgery-but for now she would enjoy her time with her son and well, her boyfriend she supposed.

"Uh, Ms. Grimes?" A timid voice asked from outside her cell door. Lori saw the petite figure of Beth Greene standing there, looking at her with optimism.

"It's Lori, Beth, and come on in, what do you need?" Lori asked, motioning for Beth to take a seat next to her. The Greene's and the Atlanta group were not on the best of terms, they were together more out of necessity to survive than any friendliness. That had kind of gone away when Shane shot their entire (albeit dead) family and then got their family home burned to the ground, and daughter presumably killed.

"I was just wondering, how is it you deal with the loss of your husband? You know because I just lost my sister and you and your family just seem so put together." Beth said quietly as she took a seat next to Lori. The girl was very sweet but Lori found her the slightest bit irritating.

"It's been several months since I lost him Beth, almost a year. And it's been what? A few weeks since you lost your sister? You just have to give things like this time." Lori explained and put her hand softly on the young woman's back.

"I thought that daddy told me you guys just imagined they were still alive?" Beth asked with a confused look on her face and Lori let out a sigh.

"Talk to Carl about that sweetie, he's the one who thinks his father's still alive. The only way to really get over a loss is if you really accept that they're gone. That barn fire was spreading Beth and Maggie had a broken ankle. Carl probably thinks his dad saved Maggie and they're off somewhere. But he's wrong, Beth. Your Maggie died in that fire and my Rick died in the hospital."

* * *

_Rick's Group, a continuation of last chapter._

"Maggie!" Rick called, not recognizing the scream as Michonne's or Glenn's. It was too high-pitched, not to mention that Rick didn't recognize it at all. He grabbed his gun from off the kitchen counter as he rounded up the staircase, taking them two or three at a time and thankfully keeping his balance.

Glenn and Michonne were already out of the bedrooms they'd fallen asleep in and making their way to where Maggie was. Glenn had the door open first and barged in, immediately wrestling a walker off of Maggie's prone form on the bed.

"Oh  _jesus._ " Maggie panted and clutched at her chest with her hands as Glenn beat in the walker's head with his gun.

"Where the  _fuck_ did that come from? Daryl put the two of you in charge of upstairs and you didn't bother checking Maggie's room?" Rick asked, the tendons in his neck bulging out, and his lips pressed in a line so tight they almost weren't there. Rick didn't get angry often, but this was something he couldn't excuse, completely unacceptable for the two of them to have left Maggie exposed like that.

Glenn moved silently over to the open door of a bathroom and looked inside, his face dropping a bit as he did. "I didn't check behind the shower curtain." He said reluctantly and Rick had no choice but to calm down a bit. It wouldn't help the situation any if he was shit-face pissed.

"Alright I think for now we've given up separate room privileges. Everyone grab some blankets and get to the living room, I'll get Maggie." Rick ordered and slid his gun into the waistband of his jeans, his earlier raging erection had gone down from all of the fear, for which he was glad.

Once everyone had left the room Rick slid his arms around Maggie in a bridal style. "I'm sorry Maggie, we've never had anything like that happen before, I can promise you." Rick said and she nodded, obviously still catching her breath after all that panic.

Maggie weighed about ten pounds sopping wet so he also grabbed her crutches and a pillow before carrying her downstairs. Rick was glad to see that Daryl had cleaned up downstairs and was properly dressed, wearing different jeans that weren't soaked. "That's alright Rick. Your people saved me when mine didn't, simple as that." She said as he set her down on the couch.

"Weren't you dad and sister with you?" Rick asked, taking a seat next to her as everyone else go ready to try and go back to sleep. He watched offhandedly as Daryl ordered Glenn to go make a final sweep and to close all the doors upstairs.

"Yes, but there was another group that was staying on the farm, one of ours shot one of theirs by accident and my daddy and their leader butted heads a lot. I think my daddy and sister are either dead or weren't given the option to back and get me. It was the other people who decided I didn't matter." Maggie spoke. Rick noted that her voice had a general calming aspect to it, despite the scathing remarks she was giving.

"You get some rest, we'll be back up that way in a few months time." Rick assured and helped her settle into the couch. After Maggie was in bed Rick set off to find Daryl, noticing first that Glenn went to go talk to Maggie, kneeling by the couch and making her smile.

Michonne had holed up in a large window sill with the curtains tightly drawn and he could tell that she was already asleep. In the kitchen Daryl was leaning against the counter and drinking cold instant coffee in a mug from one of the cabinets.

"Want some?" Daryl asked as Rick leaned against the counter next to him, close enough that their hips were brushing.

"Coffee powder mixed with lukewarm water? I think I'll pass." He joked and gently draped his arm across Daryl's waist, hanging his hand loosely on the opposite hip and pulling Daryl against him. Everyone else was in the living room and they couldn't see into the kitchen-and even if they could it wasn't like they would say anything. "I think we're going to have to start staying in one room together just to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. Even if we clear a house out perfectly we're all at risk if one gets in somehow and we're spread out."

Daryl nodded gruffly and took another sip of coffee. "You're right. I think tomorrow we should scout the houses around here for supplies, like you said: we're not in a hurry. I know we're taking the long way through Talladega to waste time before we get there but no matter what we do it isn't going to take us longer than ten days to get to Montgomery if we travel at the pace we did today."

"Tomorrow let's focus on supplies. I say we keep the mustang as a scouting car, find a van to carry supplies in. We can put Glenn and Michonne in the Mustang; you, me, and Maggie in the van until she heals up a bit and then maybe we can move it to three cars. I think Michonne can handle herself and Glenn and Maggie would probably be a good suit to work together..." Rick trailed off and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. "I used to play games like this on my phone, ya know? Like war games where you'd get randomly assigned soldiers and you'd have to decide what missions to send them on based on their attributes. So I was always the general or whatever ya know, making the decisions. I don't know if I can be the general in real life." Rick said.

Daryl looked at Rick's profile for a while, studying the way his stubble was growing in coarser and trying to think of what to say. "Sometimes you don't choose to be a general, sometimes you just do something so great that someone higher up decides you need a promotion."

"Is that true?"

"You think any Dixon's have actually been in the military?"

"Fair point." Rick conceded and offered Daryl a side smile before turning his head to face him. "You know Carl said something once that I can't get out of my head. There were two missing persons cases a couple years back. One was a widow who's only kid had died, and the other was a real little girl with some deadbeat parents. There was strong evidence that the little girl had died and the widow had just skipped town but Carl said 'I bet they found each other, sometimes you need someone so much that you just...find them.' I've been thinking about that a lot recently about maybe we're together because Carl and Merle are together. We found each other, maybe they found each other." Rick said, rambling a bit but trying to get to the point.

"What happened to the kid and the chick?" Daryl asked.

"Little girl was found alive, both had been abducted by the same freak and the widow incapacitated him for long enough to call the cops before he killed her." Rick said, staring off into nothing again for a long while.

"If Merle is with your Carl, he'll keep him alive till the last cell in his body can't find anymore." Daryl spoke and reached his hand down to tangle in Rick's softly, they're fingers not squeezing one another but just resting like a puzzle that hadn't been patted down yet.

"And I'll protect you till the end of this." Rick promised, tightening his grip on Daryl's waist and hand. Rick pressed his lips against the top of Daryl's head, inhaled, and then let out a long breath. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

_Carl Grimes, shortly after Judith is born._

Carl couldn't stop thinking about the excruciating labor that his mom had been through. Somehow, by the grace of whatever higher power was still out there, she'd been able to have a normal birth that went perfectly and little baby Judith was born.

His mom hadn't wanted to name her Judith, she'd wanted a family name, but Andrea said it was a lovely name so they kept it. Lori said she wanted a baptism so Hershel said he might not be able to do it right, but he could do it.

Carl had found some chalk in the library and created a huge lettering on the wall that said  _JUDITH GRIMES born xx-xx-xxxx._

"Looks like a giant tombstone." Beth commented tersely and Carly looked mildly offended as he bounced Judith on his knee.

"Looks like a birth certificate." Carl retorted and gave her a raised eyebrow. He liked Beth, first of all she was pretty, and second of all she was really nice to him and the closest to his age. No one had really had time for him recently other than Beth, Merle, and sometimes Hershel. Shane was busy planning strategy's against Woodburry with Andrea and trying to figure out how to get more people into their group. They had a few more people from around the area staying in the prison with them but Carl didn't know specifically who they were. Some people from Woodburry he thought. There was a kid named Patrick who was okay, but he want to Carol's  _storytime's_ which Carl didn't really like.

"Why aren't her parents name's written up there too? And the doctor who delivered her?" Beth asked, not unkindly as she sat at one of the metal lunch tables in the cell block with him.

"I don't really like to think about who her parents are." Carl said with a shrug, not caring who heard him. Shane had been acting kind of weirdly towards Carl recently, like he wanted to be his new dad, which Carl did like at all, so Carl didn't really like to think about the fact that Judith was only his half sister.

Beth nodded understandingly and took the piece of chalk from him, writing in smaller print slighter above it:  _Sister to Carl Grimes, Delivered by Hershel and Beth Greene._ "Sound good?" She asked.

Carl gave Beth a grin and nodded, it looks great, thanks Beth.

* * *

_Rick's Group, about a month and a half later._

It was almost sacrilegious when a giant armored van rolled in off the 82 from Shreveport into Montegomery. It was met by a worn out Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie who had had a hell of a time getting to Montgomery. Rick had thought for sure it would have taken ten days or less, but they had just rolled in two days ago. It had been a month and a half of trying to get away from the cities, having to go on foot for part of it with a girl that had a broken ankle, and shifting countless cars into neutral to push them out of the way.

Rick couldn't say with a clear conscious that they had been as timely as they could have. They stayed at one place for a whole week because they'd found that almost every person on a block had an underground cellar with canned food, and they stayed a few nights at just really comfy places. He and Daryl hadn't gotten any further than they had the first night on the road because they were too busy being paranoid about letting their guard down, but they noticed that almost nothing stopped Glenn and Maggie from disappearing for an hour or eight for some 'quiet time'.

Michonne and Rick had gotten to be very good friends on the trip, and Daryl had been moderately jealous before Rick realized what was going on and quelled any thoughts he may have had about Rick moving onto someone else. He and Daryl weren't exactly hiding how they felt about each other but they weren't sneaking off for whole nights. They would casually wrap their arms around each other, but not much more than that other than a few unavoidable and incredibly hot make-out sessions when they should have been scavenging.

The whole group raised their arms above their heads to signal the bus that they knew who they were. The armored car rolled to a stop and out of the window leaned a fierce-eyed looking hispanic woman with one raised eyebrow. "You guys slowing us down for a reason?" She asked.

"Dr. Eugene Porter, is he with you?" Michonne asked, stepping forward and handling it. As the person to get all of them involved on the mission everyone else thought it was fair for her to handle all the talking.

"Holy shit, you one of the ones that got his message?" She asked and the van turned off, there were sounds of doors opening on the other side and then the woman slipped out herself.

"We were told to be here so we are. Just rolled into town too." Michonne said and turned to shake hands with a looming red-headed man.

"We're glad you're hear. We've lost a lot on the road here and it is of the utmost importance that Eugene is delivered to D.C safely. I am Sargent Abraham Ford, it is truly a pleasure to meet you." He said and offered Michonne a curt nod of his head.

"Thank you, I'm Michonne, and this is Rick, Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn." Michonne motioned with her hand to each person.

"I'm Rosita." The woman said and gave the group of them a small closed-mouth smile.

"And I am Doctor Eugene Porter, of the Human Genome Project." Rick noted the heavy set man with an uncharacteristic mullet and cargo shorts. He looked like he hadn't really been submersed in the world around him, but at the same time Rick could truly wonder if he had been, after all why would he need to even lift a hand with a hulking army Sargent and the terrifying looking Rosita.

"We've all been through a lot to get here Eugene, and we'd like nothing more than to get you to D.C." Rick answered honestly, but then began to notice the drifting sounds of walkers closing in on them. They were exposed at the top of the exit ramp they were standing on. "With all due respect, I think we should get right back to that mission immediately."

"Right you are, we're continuing around Alabama and through Birmingham." Abraham said before gesturing for Rosita and Eugene to get back in the truck.

"I would suggest we go through, or at least near, Atlanta. We just came from there and we can guarantee clear roads if you follow right behind us." Rick said, the group slightly behind him giving nods of agreement. These words seemed to set Abraham on a suspicious edge, his eyes narrowed and he tensed up a bit.

"I appreciate the offer and I believe we'll take you up on it, but this is your one and only warning: if this is a trap, I have eyes on the back of my head and an arsenal in this truck to put whatever you have to shame. You cross us, we kill you. You get us in a whole world of trouble, we kill you. 's'as simple as that." Abraham said, his trained and true army voice ringing through with each word. Rick held out a hand to him and the two shook tightly. "We'll travel till sundown and then find a place to stop, big place enough for both of us to have our own side until we establish some trust-keep your eye out Rick."

With scant another word Rick and Daryl slid into their seats in the van, Maggie and Glenn loaded into the mustang, and Michonne got into her own old car that they'd scrounged up.

* * *

Rick had rested his hand on Daryl's thigh at some point in the ride and Daryl's hand had found it way to drape over Rick's, holding until it loosely but secure. It was small pleasured that the two could take advantage of.

"We need to get them to trust us." Rick mentioned. They'd been driving in silence for about three hours before they'd had some semblance of small talk, another three before they talked about "what's your favorite," and now as the sunlight was starting to fade out, Rick let Daryl know what had really been on his mind the whole day.

Before saying anything Daryl moved to clasp Rick's hand within both of his, gently rubbing the top of it with his thumb. "If we try too hard then they'll be suspicious of us. We have to let trust come naturally." Daryl said softly.

"It just has to happen before we get to Atlanta. There's some pit stops we gotta make-Grady Memorial, Maggie's farm, and they're not going to stop if they think we're leading them into a trap." Rick vented and squeezed Daryl's hand, appreciating the gentle comfort that he was giving.

"Rick, if there's anyone who can earn trust it's you. I watched you calm down a crippled girl that we basically abducted in what, ten minutes? You got Glenn on our side in about five seconds, so even if this is the hardest case you've yet to take, you can do it."

Leaning back in his seat Rick nodded contentedly, and chose to quit talking to instead watch the road, looking for any large places they could still clear out and spend the night.

Not twenty minutes further down the road Rick spotted a farm mansion that he was pretty sure they'd seen on the way down but hadn't felt safe to stay it. There weren't any cars around it, or walkers, and it looked safe enough, so Rick signaled that he was turning down the drive and looked behind him as everyone followed suit.

Exiting their cars Daryl motioned for Glenn and Michonne to head inside, letting Maggie stay at the mustang while they went in, she was healing but she wasn't a hundred percent yet and Daryl didn't want to risk her going in with them.

"Looks like you guys have got it down," Abraham remarked and clapped Rick on the soldier, Daryl looked mildly peeved. "We'll take downstairs you guys take upstairs. I'll take first watch then one of yours, we'll do two hour shifts switching among all of us." Abraham directed and Rick nodded, agreeing with everything he was saying.

After a moment Glenn and Michonne came back out of the house and nodded that it was safe. "Nothing in there other than creepy old paintings and lots of fancy beds." Michonne debriefed Rick while Glenn gave Maggie any help she needed to get in the house and up the stairs.

"Thanks Michonne, would you mind taking second watch after Abraham?" He asked and she nodded, ducking upstairs as well to get a little bit of sleep before they would have to wake up in the morning.

A few 'goodnights' and 'thank yous' were shared as the groups parted and went their separate ways, Rick noticed that Abraham had a protective hand on the small of Rosita's back, and that Eugene ambled on awkwardly behind them like he was their prepubescent kid. It was an odd demographic that was for sure, but all Rick could think of at the moment was a nice warm bed to sleep in. As a rule they had been sleeping on living room floors, if there was a bed than Maggie usually got it, and Rick and Daryl always took the watch shifts to let everyone else sleep, so they were looking forward to actually sleeping together for the first time in a while.

They shared a knowing look with each other and after double checking every nook and cranny, they backed themselves into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. The bed was big enough for about eight and the decor looked like the Queen of England or someone had lived their, but neither of them minding, choosing simply to forgo disrobing at all and falling onto the bed with one another.

After a few moments of just enjoying one another's presence and listening to soft breathing sounds that rolled off the bed to start taking layers off.

Rick honestly hadn't even thought about doing anything other than sleeping and holding each other, but once he say Daryl pulling his shirt off (way more sexy than anyone should be able to take a normal shirt off) his dick decided that there was no way they were just sleeping next to one another. Rick gave Daryl a small wink before pulling his shirt off too, removing his boots and then pulling Daryl onto the bed on top of him.

Their lips crashed against one another's and Rick wrapped his legs hungrily around Daryl's hips. In a matter of seconds they were rocking against one another while the kiss they were sharing turned sloppier and sloppier. Rick's hands tangled into Daryl hair and Daryl's hands were squeezing Rick in every place that he loved. He felt himself coming closer and closer to the precipice before Daryl slowed his rocking.

"Why'd you stop?" Rick half asked half moaned as he attempted to grab purchase with his ankles and pull Daryl back against him.

"We can do shit like this up against the counter at any shitty convenience store we raid, let's slow it down and actually appreciate it." Daryl said, which filled Rick's heart. It wasn't often that Daryl said sweet things like that and Rick was upset that there weren't any lights because he knew for a fact that Daryl would be bright red after saying that.

"Alright show me what you want to do  _baby_." Rick taunted him, using a nick name that he'd learned early on Daryl absolutely loved, but hated to admit he did.

"Shut up," Daryl grumbled and momentarily unwrapped himself from around Rick. Rick let out a soft noise of complaint but stopped it when he realized that Daryl was slithering down his body and stopping right above the waist band of his jeans. Daryl's deft fingers went to undo the buttons all as Rick watched with cloudy night vision in amazement as Daryl pulled his cock free from its confines.

The air was hot around him and Rick could tell that he must be throbbing in Daryl's hands. Rick didn't have time to wonder what Daryl's plan was before a wet heat engulfed him and Daryl sunk his lips down, down, down, until all of Rick was engulfed in him. " _Jesus_ you never mentioned this talent." Rick breathed as Daryl slid up painstakingly slow, and then back down, bouncing slowly a few times. Daryl's hand reached out to grab Rick's and Rick squeezed back, not realizing what Daryl wanted until the man guided Rick's hand up to his messy hair and Rick got the message.

Rick started by shallowly thrusting into Daryl's mouth, noting by the still rock-hard erection against his leg and Daryl's whimpers, Rick began to go faster. Snapping his hips up and pushing Daryl's head down so far that Rick felt his nose buckling against his pelvis. Rick snapped back and pulled Daryl's head up so that his lips were just barely around the tip before pushing back in.

Setting a brutal pace it only took Rick a few more pumps to get to the edge. "Daryl fuck I'm gonna, just pull off if you don't want to..." Rick trailed off as Daryl's head bobbing got even more eager and with just the thought that Daryl could want him to spill down the back of his throat, Rick came undone and pumped thick hot ropes down Daryl's throat.

When he was finally spent Rick motioned for Daryl to come back up and meet him, pushing their lips together, Rick didn't even mind where Daryl's lips had just been. "Let me get you off baby," Rick muttered between kisses and Daryl shook his head lightly. "Why not?" Rick asked.

Daryl once again guided Rick's hand, but this time to a still warm wet spot on the front of his jeans.

"Fuck, you could come just from...?" Daryl didn't let him finish as he hastily nodded yes and pushed their lips back against Ricks.

After they were both sated and calmed down from earlier activities, Rick pulled Daryl close up against him and pressed his lips softly to Daryl's neck. "You're the only one keeping me sane ya know." Rick mumbled.

"What would you ever do without me?" Daryl sarcastically responded, but the words resonated deep within Rick.

Tomorrow they would move on, and it might be another while before they got a chance like this so Rick simply breathed in Daryl scent and drifted off to sleep.


	4. She Didn't Make It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like the twist in this chapter!!!! Please read the bottom notes because I have an important AN but it's kind of a spoiler.

_Carl Grimes, three months from the end of the previous chapter._

Everyone in the prison was starting to get antsy and wanted to move on. It was obvious that Shane wasn't planning a good enough offensive move against Woodburry for them to win, and they were suffering loses from the Governor's strategy's. Carl hoped that they could win, but there was a part of him who didn't want to risk anyone else dying and for them to simply move on. They knew that the Governor would be at their doorstep any day as he'd given them a warning six days ago that he'd be there in a week to take what he wanted--the prison.

He had to admit that in the beginning they'd been on top, winning battles and getting citizens over to their side. There were at least 72 people in the prison now, but most of them weren't fighters. Tho only real 'soldiers' that they had were: Merle, Shane, Andrea, Sasha, Tyreese, Carol, and Carl himself. That wasn't a lot of people to protect over ten times their amount.

Carl didn't want to leave because he felt safe in the prison, and the secret scared part of him didn't want to be back out in the open again. He didn't really have any friends since Patrick died. Merle was still his buddy, but more like an older brother than a friend, and Beth was too busy taking care of Judith. He'd sat in on a few meetings where Hershel, Sasha, Carol, and Merle talked about what would be best for the community. Shane was power hungry and they all understood it, so often when the four (five with Carl) met it was very hush-hush.

Since the group, or  _council,_ as some of the people had been calling it, had been meeting a lot of positive changes took place. There was an outdoor kitchen and a small farm area that had been in use up until the pigs got sick. Carl had been in charge of the crops, and though they hadn't been able to grow anything yet he'd liked the change of pace from getting up early to fight walkers, to getting up early to feed the pigs. It all felt calmer to him. Merle had remarked that he had a "new sense of self," whereas his mom was worried that he was getting "soft in the mind and the middle," which Carl didn't think was true. He agreed with everything the council said, and at some point the fighting would have to stop and the living start-- Carl was just getting a jump start on the living.

Currently a council session was going on and once Carl convinced Shane that he was going to hang out with Beth and Judy he disappeared into the library (to Shane's benefit, Beth was reading to her in the corner). No one took Shane for dumb, so they all realized that he knew there was a 'secret' council, but so far he'd done nothing to stop it, and for good reason. Most of the people were starting to think of the council as their leaders instead of Shane who was seen as hot headed and violent.

"I'm just sayin', we need a back up plan if things go bad. We don't exactly have a back up plan and it isn't like our odds for tomorrow are good." Sasha explained, sitting as she usually did with her back perfectly straight and her hands folded in her lap. She had a very diminutive presence but a strong voice in the group to make up for it. Hershel and Sasha were probably the ones that Carl liked the most. He genuinely liked Merle, but sometimes the man's plans were a little too dangerous, and Carol was also too gung-ho for a fight at the moment.

Carl noticed that Axel was also sitting in on the group, he occasionally stopped by but never said much. He was a well-meaning guy, if a bit ignorant and uneducated.

"I don't even want to  _think_ about something like that happening." Carol muttered and leaned back in her chair, taking control of the room with the masculine way she was sitting. Carl didn't have any problems with Carol, in fact he considered her a really good asset to the team, he just didn't like that she'd been teaching the kids how to fight and kill things. Shane endorsed it though so there wasn't much Carl could do.

"But Carol there's some things we have to talk about, even if they're hard." Hershel chided softly, emphasizing a few words and nodding his head slightly as he spoke, he then added: "we should think of a place to meet up if we all get separated."

"'sa good idea. Someplace far enough away from Woodburry, but close enough that we can get there. I think the bus will work well to get the civilians out, and then the rest of us can travel on foot, or Hershel we can make sure you have the keys to the Honda or something tomorrow." Merle added and everyone around the room nodded.

"How about the railroad tracks we could converge at--" Carol was cut off by one of the loudest sounds Carl had ever heard in his life. His vision went hyper-sharp but slow-motion and he brought his hands up to his ears with a cringe as his body rocked one way and then the other.

Warping back to real time Carl was immediately on his feet, his hands went to his belt and tossed Hershel the keys to the Honda. "Looks like we're out of here sooner than expected. Railroad tracks, got it!" Carl said before dashing out of the room and making his way immediately to his cell.

He grabbed his back pack and gun, slinging one on and holding the gun at his side. "Carl!" He heard the familiar voice of Shane. "We got to clam these people down, help me!" He shouted.

"What's going on outside?" Carl questioned, amid the noises of panic in the cell block.

"It's the Governor, he has a friggin' tank. But we can't let everyone just scatter we have to hold our ground." Shane explained, his voice going louder towards the end as he tried to get his message across to everyone.

"That isn't the plan Shane, the plan was for everyone who can't fight to get on the bus and leave through the back. You can't expect them to fight just because it's a surprise attack." Carl reasoned, but Shane looked like the vein in his forehead was going to burst.

Turning around with a huff, Shane stalked out to the main courtyard and away from Carl. Carl took a quick survey of the room around him and saw that most people had a clear destination in their minds eye, the bus.

A few things seemed to happen once again in slow motion, the main wall of the cell block came down from one of the bombs, flying debris striking a few people and instantly killing them. Next, his mom showed up behind him and tried to usher him to leave, but now that Carl could see what was happening outside he was more incensed than ever to go out and help.

"Mom we're meeting at the railroad tracks! Find Beth and Judith and get out of here!" Carl shouted and motioned her towards the library where Carol, Sasha, Axel, and Merle were coming from to join the fight. That was the last Carl saw of his mom before he ran outside, immediately taking cover from the hail-storm of bullets.

As more bombs flew Carl thought that he could make out the noise of the bus leaving, someone must have told them to just go and get out. The Governor's people were going down and thankfully Carl hadn't seen any of his people really being killed yet, but he saw them reloading the tank and then driving it over the fence and pushing it down.

That was the last thing Carl saw before another ear-splitting noise and his vision faded to black.

* * *

_Rick's Group, ten days before the events above._

"I promise you Abraham, you know that we're good people, so just trust that we're leading you to good people." Rick assured as they stood around their parked cars in a gas station parking lot a little ways outside of Atlanta. "We said we could get you to Atlanta in a month and half and it's been just about that. No tricks so far, why would we have planned something so elaborate?"

Abraham seemed to think about his words for a moment and Eugene butted in. "I do believe he is telling the truth Abraham. Rick has almost sacrificed his lives for us on at least three occasions if I'm remembering correctly."

Abraham nodded at that and then finally said: "fine, but we need collateral. If you guys go into the city then what's to say you don't just dump us and leave?" He asked.

Rick had to hold back a frustrated sigh. Abraham was full of "what-if" questions, and couldn't seem to understand that in this world, spending a month and a half with someone basically meant you were family.

"We'll stay." Glenn offered.

"No, Glenn you can't do that." Rick countered and Glenn gave a nonchalant shrug.

"If we wanna go to Maggie's farm too then we have to get their trust. Leave us three as collateral and you two go in." He suggested.

Both Abraham and Rick thought for a moment before nodding at one another.

"If we're not back by tomorrow at sundown, continue on without us." Rick said and exchanged a handshake with Abraham. Rick and Glenn shared a nod before he motioned for Daryl to slide into the Mustang with him.

They were a couple minutes headed into Atlanta when Daryl rested his hand softly on Rick's thigh. "Thank he's still there?"

"He'd better be." Is all Rick responded with before covering Daryl's hand with his own. In the past month in a half their relationship had gotten more emotionally intimate but not much more physically. They'd had repeats of what happened the first night in the farm house, but hadn't gone further than that. It was partly because most nights they were too wasted to even think about staying up, and just because they didn't need that. Rosita and Abraham apparently had to at it at least once a day, but Rick and Daryl were simply content to fall asleep in one another's arms most nights. Their relationship wasn't questioned by anyone, and for that he was happy.

The drive to Atlanta was quick, and thankfully the roads weren't too bad. They were headed in from a direction they hadn't been before and there weren't a lot of walkers milling about. Grady Memorial stood as a beacon of light among everything else--literally, Rick could see solar panels shining on the top.

There was a chance that Morgan was dead and that the police had control of the hospital once again, but the two of them chose not to think like that and to instead think about the possibility that their friend was still alive.

They had to go on foot when they got to about halfway there, but there weren't too many walkers and by his point Rick and Daryl knew how to handle themselves well enough. When they made it to Grady Memorial Daryl motioned Rick to look around the edge of the fence, gingerly peeking his head around Rick let his shoulders drop with a sigh and motioned Daryl to follow him.

The parking lot didn't have the gate closed but it was still filled with white hospital vans, and in the center of the lot stood a teenage boy moving some walker corpses.

"Excuse me!" Rick called, trying not to frighten the boy but simply get his attention.

The kid looked up and Rick noted that he must have been in his late teens. "Can I help ya'll? I ain't the only one here if you're thinking of pulling anything." He said, not looking as tough as he probably thought he sounded.

"We're not here to cause trouble, we just want to ask about one of our friends who was here a few months ago." Rick said and put his hands up slightly to show that he meant no harm, Daryl did the same.

The kid took his hand off the gun in his waistband and nodded. "Alright I'm Noah, you are you looking for?"

"Morgan Jones."

"Holy shit you're friends with Mr. Jones? Damn didn't think that guy had friends." Noah joked and Rick raised an eyebrow.

"He's here then?" Rick asked and Noah nodded quickly, then amended and shook his head 'no'.

"He might be, I don't know. How long was it since you last saw him?" Noah asked.

"We high-tailed outta here right around the time there was a  _change in management._ " Rick said and Noah seemed to get the meaning.

"You probably don't know a lot then. Mr. Jones was in charge for a hot second, then right around when I got here he handed over charge to some ex-cop who still answers to Mr. Jones. But sometimes he goes out around town, clearing buildings and such ya know." Noah said.

"So you don't know if he's here?" Daryl asked, a little impatient.

"I think he headed out this morning, but he always comes back for lunch. Let's head inside and we can wait for him."

* * *

" _Rick Grimes._ " Morgan spoke and looked on at him stoically for a moment before cracking just about the largest smile Rick had seen since this whole thing began. Noah seemed to be taken aback by the action.

Rick hugged Morgan with a clap on the back and Daryl nodded at him. "You said you'd find me, but you were taking a little too long." Rick joked, referencing their parting words.

Morgan nodded with a slightly far off look in his eyes. "I think I got caught up in the complacency of this life for a while, but I've been training again, going out to make sure my skills were still sharp. I've been meaning to finally drift away and find you. I never for a moment thought that you were dead." He mused, still with a half smile on his face.

"Well you're in luck, because Daryl and I are headed out soon and we want you to come with us." Morgan motioned for Rick and Daryl to sit down in two chairs on one side of a desk while Morgan took the single chair on the other side. Noah stood to the side a bit.

"I can't just head out that easily, what's your plan?" Morgan asked inquisitively, his hand resting on a wooden stave that was pressed into the ground firmly, his knuckled looking like they were used to bending around it.

"We're headed to D.C with a Doctor Eugene Porter who says he knows how to stop all of this."

Morgan had previously been drumming his fingers but stopped abruptly. "As in... He knows the cure?" Morgan asked.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again and chose to answer. "He can't tell us specifics, says that we wouldn't understand and that when there's a new world order the statute of secrecy still holds."

"So you're heading to D.C with a guy who  _might_ know the answer to all of this?"

"Well, him and a few other people. And you have to meet the guy to understand Morgan, he's above all of us. Probably smarter than anyone I've met in my life." Rick said and Morgan looked off into the distance for a moment longer.

"I can meet him before I decide to go with you guys?" He asked.

Rick nodded.

"Can I bring Noah with me?" The kid looked surprised but obviously tried to hide his emotions well.

Rick nodded once again.

"We'll meet you outside in twenty, Rick, give us a moment to talk." Morgan said.

He and Daryl were on their feet headed out the door, when Rick said over his shoulder: "The new world needs you Morgan, please think hard."

Daryl put his hand softly on Rick's back when they got outside and whispered, almost like it was a secret, even though there was no one around: "He said he believes in you Rick, so he'll make the right decision."

And Daryl was right, it was only ten minutes before Morgan was walking down with a pack slung over his shoulder and his stick, while Noah followed behind with a similar pack and a slight limp. Rick explained how they'd gotten into the city and they began their walk.

"So why'd you come with us Noah?" Rick asked, glancing over at the kid. He was obviously a little self-conscious but Rick could tell a good person when he saw one, and Noah was good.

"Well Mr. Jones--" Morgan cut Noah off.

"It's  _Morgan_ boy, how many times I gotta tell you?" Morgan said, but gave the kid a small closed mouth smile as if to show it was all in good-humor.

"Mr. Morgan," Noah corrected cheekily and the whole transaction reminded Rick of Duane, he wondered briefly if Noah was filling a spot in Morgan's heart, and if in return Morgan was filling a spot in Noah's. Rick knew wounds like that could never be completely healed, but the ugly parts could be covered up. "I came from a community upstate a ways and I've been on the mend for a while, been meaning to head back out into the world but didn't really have the confidence to go on my own."

"Noah here had a broken leg, good thing we found him too." Morgan remarked, and then the four of them walked in content silence for the majority of the rest of the walk.

* * *

The farm had been a bust and even Abraham and Rosita seemed sympathetic to Maggie, she had taken a moment to herself, obviously thinking that her family had died in the fire or was a walker out in the forest.

It hadn't taken long for Morgan and Eugene to get along well, the two just fit together in an abstract sense. Noah was following Rosita around like a lost puppy, but was also surprisingly smart and rode in the car with Eugene so the two could talk. Noah had admitted to Rick and Daryl over some laughs that Eugene would be unbearable if it weren't for the fact that he liked comic books.

The whole group had meshed so well that Abraham had decided that Rick was trustworthy people and they had headed to Maggie's farm with no complaints. They were driving North now, towards DC, but they saw smoke rising from behind some trees so the four cars pulled to the side of the road.

Rosita and Michonne hadn't wanted to check it out, but Rick pointed out that last time they'd followed a trail like this they'd saved Maggie, and Abraham just liked reckless danger so he agreed.

Maggie, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Abraham were headed towards the smoke while Noah, Morgan, Glenn, and Rosita stayed to protect Eugene if need be. Rick admired his little group that he had and that fact that eight out of nine of them were great fighters and any one of them could be a leader.

"What kind of smoke is that?" Daryl asked, looking towards the sky. "Not a fire," he added.

"You're right, it's not a fire, almost like rubble or something." Rick added and sniffed at the sky but wasn't getting anything.

"If I remember correctly we're near West Georgia Correctional Facility." Michonne added and through the trees they could see a fence that was glittering in the sunlight. There weren't many sounds around them though.

It was when they started getting close to the fence that Michonne, Daryl, and Abraham picked up a noise that the others didn't seem to hear. They stopped in their tracks and met eyes with each other. Daryl and Maggie seemed to get the picture and stayed quiet while the three of them listened. "Is that a... Baby?" Abraham asked quietly, Rick and Michonne both nodded in agreement.

Daryl and Maggie shared a look of surprise, never having been parents and not being able to pick out the sound as well. They both heard it though, faintly, when they got nearer to the fence, a high pitched wail coming from beyond the fence in what looked like a pile of rubble that had once been a prison.

They stood by the fence, looking down the side of it and noticing that there were two fences, one had been taken down by an abandoned tank and was full of walkers, while the second was still standing and seemed to only have a few of them. "Can we make it across?" Michonne asked aloud.

The five of them looked beyond the fence and calculated their chances. "Maggie can you run alright now?" Rick asked and she nodded. "I think we're going to have to sprint for it. That's way too many walkers for us to take on, but they seem slow so I think we can cut through them at a full sprint." Rick explained.

Everyone surveyed the field for another moment before Abraham nodded with the idea. "Michonne you're the fastest you go first, Maggie, Daryl, Rick, then I'll take up the back. Let's try and make as little noise as possible till we get to the break in the fence."

Most of the walkers seemed centered around the section of the fence where the noise was emanating the loudest from, so not a single one even noticed as the five of them made it to the gap in the fence.

One behind the other they sprinted across the field, Michonne getting the lock undone on the gate as she arrived first, ushering each person in and terrifying Abraham as she stabbed a walkers who was right behind him, before pulling the gate shut and locking it again.

There weren't a lot of walkers milling around so it took them only a few minutes to get through with all of it. The smoke that they'd seen was from shifting concrete, so whatever had happened here had happened recently. Daryl put his hand softly on the small of Rick's back as they walked through the rubble on their toes, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Finally, Rick pointed up to the cell blocks that where up above them. The entire wall and stairs had been taken out so it took all of them to help lift Michonne up onto the ledge where she could get the cell door open and the crying slowly came to a stop.

"Oh praise the lord." Rick heard softly, words that he'd never heard come from Michonne mouth, as she made it to the edge of the rubble again and handed down an absolutely tiny baby by its armpits. Rick took the baby into his hands in revelry, staring in the enormous blue eyes that captivated him. It had been a long time since Rick had seen a kid, let alone a baby, and it honestly had him in awe.

"Rick!" He heard a shout from Daryl, one that didn't sound quite urgent, but almost  _wet_ like Daryl had something stuck in his throat. "And Maggie! Come 'ere."

Rick cradled the baby close to his chest and made his way over to Daryl, Maggie following close behind.

In giant letters on a piece of concrete shaded perfectly read:  _Sister to Carl Grimes, Delivered by Hershel and Beth Greene. JUDITH GRIMES._

It didn't take Rick more than a moment for the words to sink in and he was on his knees, tears stinging his eyes. Maggie had collapsed next to him and in a blind search he pulled her into his arms, sandwiching the baby,  _Judith,_  between both of them as they cried.

They were ugly and harsh sobs that went on for a long time and when the two finally pulled apart they simply started crying again and pulled each other close once more. Finally Rick noticed the presence of Daryl on the ground next to him, his arm tightly around Rick's shoulders. Rick looked over at Daryl to notice the man whimpering softly with tears stained in his eyes and Rick pulled Daryl next tight against his chest, mindful of the baby in between them.

"It's a miracle, an absolute gift from god." Rick said. In the moment he wasn't wondering how Judith was Carl's sister, in his mind he already knew that Shane must be the father, but that didn't matter at all to him. Shane wasn't here so Judith was his little girl, and he would return her to her brother.

* * *

_Carl Grimes, the same time that Rick finds Judith._

"Carl you don't understand--"

" _YOU LEFT HER THERE YOU FUCKING BITCH, YOU LEFT HER!"_ Carl practically screamed, his jaw clenched, spit coming out on almost every word and his hands dangerously pointing the gun at Andrea's face. She was on the ground where Carl had knocked her to, obviously frightened and visibly shaking.

"Carl maybe you should calm down a bit," Sasha tried to interject but Carl absolutely wasn't going to hear any of it.

"There is  _absolutely no place_ in this group for someone who won't take care of their own,  _ESPECIALLY A FUCKING INFANT!"_ His voice grew again towards the end, he was almost breaking out into sobs as angry tears streamed down his face and the gun in his hands shook.

"I locked her in a cell, please, she might still be there." Andrea pleaded and Carl sucked in a deep quivering breath.

Shane took the initiative to knock Carl to the ground. "Get some sense in your head boy, this might be the only person who knows where Judith is." Shane shouted as Carl rolled back onto his feet and dusted himself off.

"Take me to her." Was all Carl said, flatly, staring Andrea directly in the eye and not afraid of her at all.

"Yeah of course, we can go right now..." She ushered out, trying to get Carl back on her side.

"No, no, you are  _not_ going back to that place, ya hear me? You stay here with your mother and  _I'll_ go find Judith." Shane said, taking a defensive stance to show Carl that he meant business.

"No. I'm going and that's final. You may like to think that you're in charge, Shane, but you're not. Fact is you're a coward with no integrity to speak of. Now move out of my way so I can go find my baby sister." Carl said, more even-tempered but the words were still said through clenched teeth. Carl was trying to breathe deeply, to get a control on his emotions before he started flat out crying or hurt someone. Carl knew that Shane didn't really care about Judith, he'd heard his mom crying alone enough times to know exactly how Shane felt about that baby. Sure he played the part okay of being the father, but Carl couldn't find the undying love in Shane's eyes that he remembered so clearly in his fathers.

"No integrity my ass boy! You better step the fuck off this horse you've climbed onto and sit yourself down!" Shane was getting angry too now, Carl could see the telltale signs in his bulging tendons and rapidly reddening face.

Carl bit right back, he wasn't going to take it. "First you fuck my mom before dad's body's even cold, then you have the audacity to tell me that you have even a shred of integrity? How long has the affair been going on Shane? Because it seems to me my mom fell into your arms pretty quickly after this all went down."

Shane didn't have a response to that, he just swung his arm back and slapped Carl straight in the cheek with almost all the force his arm had in it. Carl could feel blood trickling down from his now split lip, and in seconds Shane was being held down by both Tyreese and Merle.

"Get this straight boy, your dad's dead, so you listen to me now,  _you listen to me!"_ Shane said, almost pitifully as he was being held on the ground by two giant men with his arms behind his back.

"You're trash Shane." Was all Carl said before he motioned for Andrea to lead the way. As he walked by, a few people in the group had their mouths slightly agape and his mom was crying, but Carl didn't care, the only thing he cared about right now was his baby sister.

He and Andrea walked in tense silence for a while back to the prison before Andrea attempted to speak.

"You know, Shane's trying his hardest to keep everyone together." She said, not looking at Carl just continuing to walk ahead towards the bits of sandy air from where all the shifting concrete had been.

"You only say that because you're having sex with him too." Carl replied tersely and Andrea shut up quick after that. Carl knew about it of course, the looks they shared with each other were the same ones Shane had given to his mom before she'd gotten pregnant and pushed a baby out of herself.

The events at the prison after he'd passed out had needed to be filled in for him, basically the Governor's forces were completely taken out, but the prison was completely ruined. Merle had saved Carl's life by carrying him to the train tracks, for which Carl was grateful. Everyone from the council was already there, having decided after he left on where exactly to meet up and then spreading the word to everyone who hadn't been in the meeting.

Shane had shown up next with his mom, and without Judith. Apparently Beth had given Judith to Lori so she could get Hershel out safely, and then his mother had met up with Andrea, she had been hurt so Andrea found Shane, and Shane put Andrea in charge of Judith while he got Carl's mom to safety. The only problem Lori had wrong was a sprained ankle, and for all of that Andrea had been too scared to make a run for it with a screaming child so she'd locked Judith in a cell, with the intent to go back for her.

As they got nearer to the prison he and Andrea heard a rustling coming towards them. Carl held up a hand to his lips and ushered Andrea into the bushes next to him.

Distantly he and Andrea heard voices, one girl was obviously crying, and others sounded joyful, there was a bit of happy laughter and more movement, but it didn't sound like anyone was in trouble, he heard a distant and booming voice announce, " _Can you_ believe  _it Rosita, what a gift._ " Carl held another hand to his lips but motioned for Andrea to keep moving towards the fence, but very quiet. He followed stealthily behind her.

The people weren't in trouble and Carl had a mission that he needed to follow through with, he wouldn't be able to get Judith and contact them. Plus they could be surviving Woodburry residents.

"Let's go, we're sprinting across the field and then you show me exactly where Judith is." Carl whispered and gave a two finger salute to motion Andrea going first, once she was about halfway across Carl started in too.

The walkers in the field were spread far apart, and a lot of them looked like they had been killed, by what? Carl didn't know. He slid behind the second fence, that was also cleared out, someone must have killed a bunch of walkers in a last ditch effort.

"She's in that cell up there." Andrea pointed and Carl saw where she was looking, it was his mom's old room. Carl hoisted himself up onto the ledge and swung the door open.  _Not here, she's not here, she's not here, not here, not here, she's not here._ She wasn't there.

Carl felt every ounce of heat leave his body as he swung himself back onto the ground, Andrea had tears streaming down her face. "Carl, I'm,  _so sorry, please._ " She said, like she already knew the thoughts going through his head.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," he muttered and before Andrea could do a thing to defend herself he brought up his gun and shot her in the head, three times.

He didn't have time to think about his actions before he was taking off across the field again, worried that the walkers would be drawn to the noise. Carl had tears streaming down his face as he ran, he sprinted and sprinted all the way back to the railroad tracks before collapsing onto them with a heaving chest and red cheeks.

His body still felt completely numb and he was more exhausted than he had been in his entire life.

"Carl, where's Andrea?" Sasha asked tentatively and sweetly.

"She didn't make it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that Carl's reaction to losing Judith may have been a little over the top, but I'm kind of basing it on my own experiences. Like when my niece was born I immediately loved her and cared about her more than anyone else in my family, literally my parents were basically insignificant to me in terms of love after she was born. So I gave Carl the same kind of deal as this.  
> ALSO!!! Carl killing Shane was a major point of character development for Carl so I needed him to kill someone and well, I hate Andrea, so there ya go.


	5. Carl Was Right About Maggie, So...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!!! So I have to ask you guys, the story could basically be done next chapter, which was my original plan, or I could write about 3-4 more chapters and include Negan in this story. Right now it's set not to include Negan, so if you want to hear about him, let me know.  
> Notes~~~  
> Rick's reaction with Deanna is based off of the fact that he didn't see the prison fall and he never went to Terminus, so it's pretty different from the show.  
> The next chapter will be coming out in about a week since it's spring break and I won't have my computer till like Easter.

_Daryl Dixon, one day after finding Judith._

Daryl was sitting up against a giant pine tree with Rick in between his legs. Daryl had his arms tightly wrapped around Rick's middle as the man leaned against his chest and held Judith tenderly in his arms. Daryl had never seen Rick so tenderly taking care of someone before, it was different from the way he sweetly took care of Daryl, transcending anything he'd seen before.

Rick was cooing softly to Judith and Daryl tightened his arms around him. "Rick," he whispered softly into Rick's ear, pressing his lips gently against it after he did so. They hadn't spoken a lot since finding Judith. In a red-hot rage Rick had basically taken out every walker in the entire prison field, trying to make sure that none of them were Carl. Rick was even more invigorated after finding out that Carl wasn't a walker, and was somewhere out there.

Rick nodded softly, that he'd heard Daryl and leaned his head back against Daryl's shoulder. Daryl noticed that everyone else was over at the cars, sitting around and eating lunch. Maggie and Rosita were glancing over at them with silly smiles on their faces every once in a while, and Glenn was sitting with Maggie similar to how they were sitting. Daryl also noticed that Michonne and Morgan were sitting next to one another while Abraham side-eyed Noah, who had shoved in between him and Rosita. They were like one big happy family, but they didn't know where they were going next.

"I know that last night you didn't want to think about moving forward but I think we should go North--" Daryl was immediately cut off by Rick quietly, but bitingly replying.

"Daryl I just learned that my son is alive and in the area, I'm not going anywhere."

"Shh, honey I know." Daryl whispered sweetly, calming Rick down a little bit and trying to explain himself. "We're not going to just run into him in the woods, we need to move forward and leave messages for him. Let's get back on the highway heading North and every sign we see we'll spray paint telling Carl to go North. Okay?" Daryl asked, he'd thought this one through and if anyone with any sense was in the group with Carl then they would probably start heading towards a place that might have civilization, the most obvious option was D.C, or any big cities in the North.

Rick thought for a long time while Judith went to sleep. He rested one hand on Daryl's thigh lightly and Daryl covered it with his hand. "You're right, we need to push forward. It's a good plan for Carl to find us and for us to get Eugene to where he needs to go." Rick said.

Daryl squeezed his other arm tighter around Rick's middle and pressed light kisses against Rick's neck and jaw. It was a tender moment between the two of them, and was definitely healing from yesterday when they sobbed in each others arms, not that Daryl would admit he'd actually been crying.

After a few more moments of silence Rick shifted a bit and Daryl let him get up. Rick held Judith with one hand and held Daryl to his feet. Daryl got up and gave Rick a delicate and brief kiss on the lips before taking Judith from him and letting him address the group. Daryl held Judith against his chest and bounced her as he walked with Rick back over to everyone else.

"Hey guys, so I think Daryl came up with a plan," he paused for a moment, taking the time to look at every member. "We're pushing forward to D.C," Maggie looked about ready to interject, but Rick continued before she could. " _But,_ we're going to leave messages for Carl, and Beth, and Hershel to let them know that we know they're alive, and where we're going."

There were nods around the group, and finally Maggie said. "That sounds good, I think we should finish this mission."

They were about ready to get going and Eugene looked uncomfortable, he was shifting in his spot and before Rick called 'break' to the group and let everyone get into their own cars Rick brought it up. "Eugene, you look like you have something to say."

Eugene looked even more uncomfortable and crossed his arms over his chest. "I, well, before we move on, and potentially miss the chance to find your families." He started and Daryl grabbed onto Rick's forearm tightly, feeling that something bad was coming. Rick tensed his arm and Daryl held his breath. "I haven't been exactly honest with all of you."

"Spit it the  _fuck_ out Eugene, now!" Abraham barked, and stared Eugene down.

"I'm not a part of the Human Genome Project, I'm not meeting up with anyone in D.C, I don't know what caused all of this." He admitted, in his same scientific voice. Rick visibly deflated and Daryl almost felt like he needed to sit down. He and Michonne were the ones who fucking convinced Rick to go South instead of looking for his family. He was the reason they hadn't fucking found Carl sooner.

" _Alright you're fucking done!"_ Abraham shouted and Glenn and Michonne had to hold him back before he attacked Eugene.

Rosita was chewing him out in rapid-fire Spanish, Maggie looked pale, and Abraham was still screaming at him.

" _Everybody shut it!" Rick shouted, louder than anyone else was talking._

Immediately everyone had their eyes on Rick, even Eugene, who looked like he might be close to tears.

"Eugene I just have one question for you. And depending on how you answer this we are either leaving you here, or we're continuing to D.C." Rick said ominously. "Why?"

Eugene stood still for a moment before answering, with what Rick could feel was total honestly in his voice. "I figured that it was to the advantage of everyone involved to go to D.C. There are roughly fourteen wasteland communities built to function in the event of a complete grid shut down. There are not fences around these communities, but I believe that with the correct group of people these fences could be arranged in less than six months. However, I knew for a fact that I would never make it to D.C alone, and I would never get anyone to go with me unless I had proof, which I did not have. In my mind, a scientist is someone to follow in a time like this, and though I am well-educated I am simply a high-school science teacher." He finished.

"Okay." Rick said with a nod of his head.

" _Okay?_ " Abraham parroted and Rick once again nodded his head.

"I know that this may be hard to take in, but Eugene is right. None of us would have followed him if he wasn't a scientist, few of us would have believed him about these communities, but after getting to know him for two months, I firmly believe that these communities he's talking about are right. We saw what happened at this prison, it would have seemed like the perfect place to be, so let's push North, let's maybe not forgive, but let's try to forget. Eugene you can ride with Daryl and I for the time being. Our first stop is a hardware store for some spray paint. We'll travel to nightfall, and our next stop is D.C."

Everyone looked like they wanted to argue but no one spoke up. Abraham looked like he was going to foam at the mouth and Rosita was completely tensed up, but Rick wasn't going to discus this further. Daryl could read the look in Rick's eyes, it was slightly dangerous and power hungry and it read:  _agree with me or leave._ Daryl didn't often see Rick like this, but when he was he couldn't be argued with.

* * *

They were barely on the road after stopping at a hardware store when they saw a car pulled over on the side of the road. A small boned blonde girl was waving her arms on the side of the road trying to signal them to stop.

"We should stop." Daryl said.

"No." Rick responded tersely.

"Rick Grimes, we help people we don't abandon them, stop the car." Daryl set his hand on Rick's thigh and squeezed, sending Rick a mirthy look. Rick sighed and hung his arm out the window to signal stopping.

Daryl could see in the rear-view mirror that Michonne, Morgan, and Noah were all behind them but Abraham, Rosita, Glenn, and Maggie weren't in his line of sight so he figured they'd had a car problem or were lagging behind.

Daryl got out of the car as they stopped and approached the people. "Ya'll having car troubles?" He asked, able to see that there was an older man in the car with a white beard and hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The girl nodded. "I'm sorry for inconveniencing ya'll, but my daddy's on crutches and I don't know anything about cars." She said as Rick showed up behind Daryl holding Judith in his arms. Judith immediately started cooing when she saw the young woman.

"Oh Judy you like her?" Rick asked quietly and then looked up to notice that the blonde girl was staring directly at the baby in his arms.

"J-Judith? Baby Judith?" The girl asked, with a small tear coming to her eye.

Daryl was taken aback and Rick looked shocked. "You're from the prison?" Daryl asked, putting the pieces together rather quickly.

"Can I hold her? Please?" She asked and then banged on the car door. The old man opened the door and started to get out with difficulty. "Daddy it's Judith." The girl said and the man stood up, Daryl immediately noticed that he wasn't just on crutches, he was missing a leg.

"Not right now, I'm actually um," Rick couldn't seem to be able to put the words together so Daryl stepped in for him.

"He's Carl's dad." Rick finished and she looked at him with wonder in her eyes.

"Rick?" She asked softly and without thinking about it any further she gave him a huge hug and Rick enveloped her in his arms. Daryl could see a paternal sense of joy in Rick's eyes as he held her softly. After she stepped away from him the older man held out a hand to Rick.

"Rick Grimes, I want to congratulate you on the son that you raised. Bethy lost her sister and I lost my daughter. And Carl, well he always had this theory that everyone we'd lost was together somewhere, he said that unless we knew they were dead they weren't, and we can see that it isn't true but he was always sure that our Maggie was with you too." Hershel spoke, him and Rick still clasping hands.

Daryl was lost for words in that moment and he laid his own hand over Rick and Hershels as he heard the sounds of car's coming up the road behind them, he didn't even have to look to know that it was the rest of their group.

"Thank you for taking care of my son sir." Rick said and a huge smile broke out over his face as they finished their handshake and he looked over to the side to see the cars lining up.

"Beth," he greeted the girl, "and Hershel," he knew the mans name without him having to say it. "I think my son may have been more right than you know." Rick said. The two of them looked taken aback for a moment as the cars came to a stop.

Daryl watched with baited breath as Maggie got out of the car and Beth and Hershel noticed them. As soon as she looked up she brought her hand up to her mouth and broke out into a run over to them.

"Daddy!" She yelled and ran into his arms, taking in his situation and careful not to knock him over. Beth took over Maggie from behind and held the two of them tightly together.

Daryl put his arm around Rick and held him close. "We're getting closer," he whispered to Rick and pressed a kiss softly against his neck.

After the three of them had a moment and Maggie was nestled in between Beth and Hershel, Glenn stood a little to the side.

"Thank you two for helping Judith come into the world. I saw the message that Carl left, that you helped deliver her." Rick acknowledged.

Beth nodded happily and Hershel answered. "It was a hard birth, she told us that Carl was a c-section and thankfully Judy was a natural birth." After a few moments Hershel added: "I think it would be unfair to keep from you who her father is--" Hershel began but Rick finished.

"Shane Walsh is her biological father. But I don't see him anywhere around here." Is all Rick said to finish Hershel's thought. "All the wall said was the she was  _Sister to Carl Grimes,_ and as far as I care, that's enough to call her my daughter. "

"Rick, I can see after just five minutes that you're a better father than Shane was." Hershel agreed. "In fact, every time I saw Judy she was with Beth or Carl."

Daryl squeezed Rick close around him and pressed a soft kiss to Judy's chubby cheek.

"We don't know where he is," Beth added. "Carl, I mean, we were all supposed to meet up by the train tracks, but we couldn't find them, they must have already been gone." She finished and Rick nodded.

"Our plan is to move forward towards D.C and leave notes for Carl to follow." Rick said. Hershel and Beth both nodded at the idea. "If the three of you would like to come with, you're more than welcome." Rick said, including Maggie with her family now.

"I think that idea sounds good Rick, and I think this is the highway that the group and Carl most likely would have converged at." Hershel said.

"Well you're part of our group now. I'm Rick Grimes, you know Maggie," he started and swallowed a bit. "And I suppose if Lori could cheat on me, I could find someone else too, this is my partner Daryl." He introduced and Daryl felt his cheeks heat up as a coy smile appeared across his face. He tried to hold it together by smiling gently at the two of them. Everyone else went on to introduce themselves.

They rolled out once again with Hershel and Beth riding with Maggie and Glenn.

* * *

_Carl Grimes, a day after Maggie is reunited with her family._

He was sitting in a circle with Sasha, Carol, Merle, and Axel now, talking about what was next.

"I think west would be a good idea, it's less populated, more places to find." Merle said, breaking the silence that they'd had. It was a little different to hold a council session without Hershel and they were definitely all getting used to the fact that he was gone now.

Sasha shook her head. "It would be a landslide to find a place like the prison again, with food stores to last forever. I think we should go North, to a bigger city, like where important people lived, maybe more places with emergency generators, suburbs with lots of places to get food." She said and everyone in the circle nodded.

"Where should we head?" Axel asked.

"D.C?" Carol suggested.

"That would be a good bet. There's probably communities around there meant for disasters, it could turn out really well for us." Sasha agreed.

"We're right next to the highway, we could start easily on foot." Carl said and they all nodded again.

Getting everyone together and spreading the plan was easy enough, Shane was sullen and withdrawn since Andrea's death, but hadn't approached Carl about it, and Lori wasn't really talking to him since everything happened. The other people who agreed were: Bob, Tyreese, Tara, Lizzie, and Mika.

They started by walking on the road, Carl walked next to Merle as always, but was a little more withdrawn, as he'd been since he returned from killing Andrea.

"Carl," Merle started softly, his voice so that no one else could hear it. They were towards the front of the group. "I know what you did, and you never need to actually say it, but if you want to talk about it, you can talk to me."

Carl shrugged his shoulders softly. "I don't really know if I want to talk about it. I was angry and I did it without thinking."

Merle rested his hand on Carl's shoulder. "I know, and if anyone had had anything to do with Daryl's death I would have done the same thing."

Carl looked up at Merle with and unreadable and then said honestly, "I think Shane's gonna kill me."

Merle's face didn't change at all. "I won't let him." Is all he said before they continued to walk in silence for another long while.

After probably an hour straight of walking they came across a road sign with a huge spray painted message on it that read:  _GO TO D.C, SAFE, SUSTAINABLE, A NEW LIFE._

He and Merle stopped and stood around it as everyone else caught up. "I guess we're on the right track." Carl remarked and Merle ruffled his hair lightly.

* * *

_Rick Grimes, three months later._

It was a long trip, full of going on foot, finding new cars, near-death situation, and an almost plummet into complete depravity. They'd gone without real food or water for a scary long time and he and Daryl had been strained as the man had kept disappearing into the woods to hunt. Rick disagreed with him constantly going off and they'd had several arguments about it, but at the end of the night they still collapsed exhausted into bed with one another.

Hershel slowed them down when they were on foot, but he was such a center of wisdom for the group that they all slowed down for him. Beth was amazing with Judith and they all transferred her between their arms when Rick was tired (which wasn't often, he was almost always holding her).

After a huge fight between him and Daryl they arrived in a moderately large community called Alexandria. Rick hadn't wanted to go, or to trust anyone, whereas Daryl had just wanted to be off the road and into someplace sustainable. They had been in an argument since Aaron and Eric recruited them to join Alexandria, and now, upon arriving they still weren't talking to one another. Rick was uncomfortable being issued into a small office with their  _leader_. On one hand Rick didn't want to give up control to someone else, and on the other hand he just wanted to sit back and watch from a distance.

Immediately upon entering the office, Rick was put at almost ease by Deanna.

"Rick Grimes, I'm Deanna Monroe." She said and shook her hand firmly. She explained that she would be filming their conversation and Rick agreed.

They talked for a while about the state of Alexandria, they spoke easily and while Deanna explained her approach to governing, Rick explained his. "I understand that most of you haven't dealt with a lot of walkers, but I don't think all of you should get so comfortable. We've seen in our travels people getting killed by people, walkers taking over entire camps. The walls don't make you safe, readiness makes you safe." He explained.

Deanna seemed to agree with everything that Rick was saying. "Well Rick, I appreciate everything that you're saying. Are you a police officer?" She asked.

Rick raised his eyes but let out a smile and nodded. "I was, yes."

"I'd like to offer you a position a role as a sort of constable safety guy. There's not a  _lot_ of trouble around here, mainly I'd like you to walk around making sure that everything is safe. Let me know if you find anything to be concerned about. Rick I like you, and I think you're not going to get used to not being a leader very easily, so I want to offer you a deal. I'm the leader of this group, but I'd like you to settle in, we'll revisit in a few weeks, and talk about you becoming co-leader, a vice president of sorts." She offered.

Rick nodded easily. "That sounds like a great deal Deanna. Thank you for taking my family in. Daryl, Judy, and I appreciate everything and I know we'll all be a lot more happy here."

They talked for a moment longer before Rick went back outside and Michonne went in next. Rick approached Daryl for the first time in a few days and gently laid his hand on his arm. "I want us to talk later tonight, in private when we have time, please." Rick said.

Daryl reached to take Judith from his arms and she went easily. "Okay," he agreed and put his hand over Rick's lightly.

They didn't get much longer to talk before Aaron wanted to show everyone where they would be staying, his group members regularly switching out and going to meet with Deanna. They split up into the two houses, and when Daryl went to go talk with Deanna Aaron came over to talk to Rick.

"Hey Rick, I was wondering if maybe tomorrow night you and Michonne would want to come over for dinner?" He asked kindly, Rick was slightly taken aback, but realized that he and Michonne had been on the same team for a few days while he and Daryl had been in an argument since Aaron had met them. Rick's smile dropped slightly and Aaron hastily added: "Unless I misjudged?"

Rick shook his head slightly and an empty chuckle came out. "Yeah, I'm not with Michonne. But uh I think once  _Daryl_ and I get through this little argument we're in we would love to come over for dinner." He said and Aaron's smile widened even more.

"Eric and I would love that, Rick." He said and he laid his hand lightly on Rick's shoulder. "It's good to have another person around who can relate. And I'm sure you and Daryl will get through whatever funk you're in." He said.

Daryl came up behind Rick and put his arm around Rick's waist like he usually would, looking at Aaron with a bit of venom in his eyes. Aaron dropped his hand from off of Rick's shoulder. "Daryl, I was just confirming plans with Rick to have you two over for dinner with Eric and I tomorrow."

Daryl looked a little flippant but held Rick tighter against him, and Rick recognized him as just being uncomfortable in the social situation he was put in. "Yeah sure, alright." He said and Aaron nodded with a grin before going off to find Eric.

"Sorry baby," Rick whispered into his ear gently. "We were just talking."

Daryl pulled away slightly and shrugged off what Rick said. "'s fine."

Rick reached for Daryl's hand lightly and just barely gripped at his fingers. "No, it's not. Beth has Judith so let's go in and talk." He offered, Daryl pulled his hand away sullenly again before nodding and following Rick into one of the houses. They immediately headed up to the top floor and walked into one of the bedrooms.

Rick took a seat on the bed and Daryl sat next to him, a respectable ways away. "Daryl," he started softly. "I'm sorry for treating you like shit the past few days. I can admit that I was wrong and you were right. This was the right choice for the group, but I couldn't see that. And I can't say with a clear conscious that this dissent just began a few days ago. We've all been high strung, and me especially, and I usually took that out on you."

Daryl sighed and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and then pulling Rick down to lay too by the back of his shirt.

"I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you. We could have solved a lot of this if I just said something, but I didn't." Was what Daryl left it at, keeping it short and to the point.

Rick reached his hand out to tangle it in with Daryl's and he squeezed back. "I guess both of us made some bad moves recently, but it's all behind us now." Rick said and was content just to be next to Daryl in that moment.

Daryl, however, wasn't quite content with that and he rolled himself over so he was on top of Rick, straddling him. "It's all behind us," he muttered.

Rick fell into things easily and gripped at Daryl's butt tightly through his pants, "you know, we actually have the opportunity to shower now." Rick said and Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"I totally forgot. I don't want to ruin the moment but I want to do something different tonight, and I want to be clean for it." He said with a wink and shimmied off of Rick. Rick reached for him futiley but didn't try that hard as Daryl disappeared into the shower. Rick took his leave down the hall to another bedroom that had a shower in it and jumped in. It was basically his first time taking a hot shower in months and he took much longer than he probably needed. Rick washed his hair and when he got out of the shower he found clippers in the cabinet and shaved his beard off. Rick looked at himself from several angles in mirror and actually thought that he looked good.

Going back to the bedroom he was in with Daryl he saw Daryl laying on the bed, and a tin of KY Jelly sitting on the nightstand. Rick stared at it for just a minute before climbing on top of Daryl. "Where'd you get that?" Rick asked with a husky tone to his voice and latched his mouth onto Daryl's neck.

"Picked it up a little while ago, just been waiting for the right moment." Daryl said and rolled his hips up against Rick.

Rick flipped them over and pushed his lips against Daryl's, their mouths moving together in a languid fashion while Rick attempted to unbutton Daryl's short. Getting frustrated, they pulled away from each other and took off their shirts and over shirts separately. Rick didn't stop their though, he moved down to pull off Daryl's belt and peeled his pants off, he wasn't wearing shoes or socks after his shower so the pants came off easily and Daryl's cock bobbed harshly against his boxers. Rick shook out of his pants as well and then crawled back up over Daryl's body.

"Sorry I'm trying to take this slow, but," Rick started and Daryl's cut him off with a simple "don't," which incensed Rick to move harder and quicker. He pressed his lips back against Daryl's and kneaded his hands against Daryl's tight abs as they rolled their barely covered and leaking cocks against one another. They didn't get enough opportunities to do things like this, and now that they were in a house like this, they would be doing it much more often.

Daryl's hands moved down to Rick's boxers and edged them down the mans hips, reaching his hands to take Rick's ass into his hands, squeezing tightly and pulling Rick's cock down against his once again.

Rick moved his hands down to pull Daryl's boxers down, and his red cock sprang free, Rick could see that his balls were pulled up tight and his whole body was tensed. Rick moved at his own boxers as well and finally got both of them off of their bodies.

Rick grabbed the tub of KY and opened it, he drizzled kisses on Daryl's chest as he got one of his fingers slick and brought it back to Daryl's entrance. They hadn't really done anything like this yet, just a bit of teasing, but they'd never had the materials to do it correctly. Rick circled his finger slowly before pressing it in softly. Daryl let out a gasp and Rick brought his lips back up to peck at his mouth.

"Is this okay baby?" Rick asked and Daryl nodded. They'd talked briefly about this and neither of them had actually done this before.

Daryl nodded and rocked his hips down lightly against Rick's finger. "Yeah, yeah absolutely." He breathed.

Rick tentatively thrust in his finger before pushing it in and out all the way to the knuckle, curling it around until he pressed against something that made Daryl jolt a bit on the bed. "Oh fuck, that, again." He pleaded and Rick curled against it again, he had Daryl's legs wrapped around his waist and had to softly thrust his own hips against Daryl's thigh at just how hot all of this was.

He withdrew his finger and got two more of them wet with the lube, he pressed his first and middle finger against the entrance and felt a stretch as he pushed them both in. "Still good baby?" Rick asked again, worried that he was going to hurt Daryl.

"So good, so full, more please." Daryl begged and Rick scissored his fingers inside, getting Daryl prepped before added a third. Rick gave a cursory prep before he couldn't wait anymore. He spread the lube over his cock and lined it up with Daryl's entrance.

"Are you ready?" Rick asked and Daryl nodded, grinding his hips down on Rick's cock, and finally Rick began to push in. He felt Daryl stretch over him and he slowly pressed in until he was bottomed out.

"Of fuck, oh  _jesus that's so big, you're so big, please_ move." Daryl commanded and Rick pulled out about halfway before pressing back in. The velvet feeling was unlike anything he'd felt on his cock before, and the tightness was insane. He folded Daryl basically in half as he leaned forward to pull Daryl into a kiss, pulling out halfway and then snapping back in.

Finally, when he felt like Daryl was used to it he pulled all the way out before slamming back in, repeating that movement over and over as they started to stop kissing, both of them moaning with their lips lightly pressed against one anothers.

Daryl was scratching deep red marks into Rick's back as his thrusts became more and more erratic. "Oh god I'm close, so close." Rick moaned.

"Touch me, please." Daryl said and Rick looked down at Daryl's leaking, but untouched cock. He brought his hand down and stroked in time with his thrusts. It was only a few more pumps before he was emptying himself into Daryl's tight hole and and Daryl was spurting around his hand, covering Rick and his own belly.

Rick finally pulled out and collapsed onto Daryl's chest, breathing heavily and clutching Daryl against him while Daryl's arms tightened around Rick.

"Rick, fuck, I love you, I really do."

Rick nodded against Daryl's chest. "I love you too Daryl." He panted out.

"Rick," Daryl started. "It might take a while, but Carl will get here." He said.

"I know, I know he will. Carl was right about Maggie being with us, now I get to be right about Carl coming back to me."


	6. Dad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! Last chapter, I feel so incredibly proud of myself for finishing this, it's insane. I never finish anything haha. I'll admit, this chapter made me tear up not one, not two, but three whole times, so I hope it's emotional for you as well. The ended as a whole could have been longer but I have a bad habit of creating more loose ends the more I type. I hope that this ending was okay, I left out a talk between Rick and Lori because I, a 20 little girl who has never been married and doesn't have kids, could not realistically write a dialogue with that kind of complexity and wisdom to it. I hope my reasoning makes sense. ALSO I TRIED TO TIE UP any loose ends that people mentioned in the comments, I hope I did a good job!!!! Thank you so much for sticking with me, xoxo, Cessa.

_Rick's Group, a continuation of last chapter, two days later._

"You look so handsome without all that hair off your face." Daryl remarked, and slung his arm low around Rick's waist. They were standing by the gates leading out of Alexandria, and even though Rick couldn't see through the metal sheeting, he was still staring off. Daryl noticed that he was also dressed up nice, like his sheriff's getup that he used to wear.

"And I like your hair more when it's not wet like oil." Rick said back but pressed his lips softly against Daryl's cheek.

"Ha ha, very funny." He said, and the two just stood for a moment, Rick leaning into Daryl and completely unaware of the world around him.

"Ya think he got the messages?" Rick asked, and Daryl instinctively knew that he was talking about Carl.

"Yes, I think he did." Daryl said. They'd agreed as a group not to leave specific messages to Carl from Rick, but instead to make them vaguer, to offer safety in D.C to everyone. It had been Rick's decision in the end, and though he'd wanted something more personal to Carl, he agreed that they should make the invite for everyone who needed respite. However, they had left a more personal message for Carl along the way. Rick and Daryl had tied up Rick's hat with Judith's baby blanket and left a short and concise note:  _Carl, go to D.C, - Love, Dad. (and Beth, and Hershel, and Judy-- and Maggie Greene!)_

"He's probably pretty far behind us, with a bigger group and everything." Daryl knew that Rick was just rationalizing why Carl wasn't here yet, and it was ridiculous to assume that he would arrive so quickly after them, but Daryl wasn't going to stop Rick from hoping, he'd never done that.

"Don't forget Aaron and I are going out tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, until we find Carl." Daryl reassured. Since Eric had hurt himself, they'd decided over dinner that Daryl would go out with Aaron instead.

"I don't really want you to leave, but I guess I'll let you." Rick joked and Daryl mocked looking upset.

"So now I have to ask permission to go out?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, always." Rick pressed another kiss against Daryl's cheek.

* * *

_Carl's Group, a week after Maggie was reunited with her family._

"I don't know why we couldn't just stay back in that subdivision." Carol said tersely, obviously annoyed. She was famished and needed some water, but so did everyone and Carl didn't really feel bad for her. They'd been trying to move quickly but they weren't running into a lot of places to find food, even the suburbs had been picked pretty dry.

"We're going to D.C, you read the message, it's safe." Sasha said, obviously repeated the words to herself to keep the mantra in her mind.

Carl was still pulling the lead with Merle, but they weren't as far ahead as they had been a few days ago, everyone was walking more in a group now, with Carl and Merle just a foot or two ahead.

They were looking for another sign that pointed them to D.C, to learn that the one they'd already seen wasn't a fluke, but they hadn't passed another street sign yet. Ahead in the distance Carl could just make out a metal green sign.

"Alright, if there isn't another message on this sign, we'll think of other options." Carl said, speaking loudly back towards the group. Merle clapped him on the shoulder and nodded.

"Can we at least slow our pace?" Lori asked from near the back, she was kind of feeling the strain of walking so much. Carl knew in his mind that he should feel bad for her, that she was his mother. But he also didn't want her to slow down the group. Even Tyreese was dripping sweat, but just flanking Carl. They were driving a hard march, but Carl was determined.

"Let's see what the sign says, and maybe we can slow down a little." Merle answered. Carl would have said the same thing, he could be the one entirely leading the group, but he supposed no one wanted a fifteen year old in charge.

Coming up on the sign they could all let out a sigh of relief when they realized that there was the same marking on it as the last one:  _GO TO D.C: SAFE, SUSTAINABLE, A NEW LIFE._ Carl actually cracked a smile, and then noticed a small wrapped package sitting underneath the sign. Everyone was taking a small moment to rest, so Carl approached the sign and the package, feeling a sense of nostalgia when he saw the cloth that wrapped the package.

Picking it up Carl turned it over a few times in his hand, it felt light--not like a bomb or a trap. Looking closer at the blanket that wrapped it Carl still couldn't tell, but he undid the tie and out fell an equally familiar hat. Carl picked it up off the ground where it had fallen, noticing that it was a well-worn  _King's County Sheriff's Deputy_ hat, and Carl's heart started pounding as he pulled out a small letter that was in the lining.

_Carl, go to D.C, -Love, Dad. (and Beth, and Hershel, and Judy-- and Maggie Greene!)_

Carl gripped the message so tightly in his hand that he was sure it was crinkled beyond repair, and the hat he immediately put on his head. He felt the familiar caress of the edges around his hair, but he'd been younger the last time his dad had put it on his head, but he could almost feel the press of his dads hand on the top of his head as he pushed it down on himself.

Picking up the blanket, Carl could finally place where he'd seen it. It was a small thing, with giraffe's and hippos on it. It was yellow, and Carl had picked it out since he hadn't known if Judith was going to be a girl or a boy.

He sat down on the group, rather unceremoniously, clutching the blanket tight against him and feeling tears stream down his face. He held his knees close to his chest and heaved heavy, uncomfortable sobs. He could feel eyes on him, Merle came up to sit next to him, kneeling and feeling what Carl knew was anxiousness about having to console him.

Sasha sat down next to him as well, and then Carol. "Is everything alright Carl?" Carol asked, smiling at him and moving to push away his tears with her thumb. Carl would never admit it, but sometimes he liked the motherly instincts that she had, she mostly used them on Lizzie and Mika now that Sophia was gone, but every once in a while they would manifest onto him.

He reached out his hand with the crumpled up piece of paper and handed it to Carol who accepted it tenderly. After reading it her eyes fell on Carl's and she breathed out "oh, Carl," before reaching forward and enveloping in a hug. "Do you want to tell them, or me?" She asked, having a sweet moment with the boy in the middle of everyone.

Carl sniffled a bit and returned Carol's hug before composing himself. "I'll tell them." He said resolutely and pushed himself off of the ground. He had the attention of the whole group after his little meltdown.

"Come on, let's just get moving, we don't have time for this." Shane said.

Shane was shut up by a quick jab in the ribs by Tara, and a rather stern look from Bob.

"We're moving forward, we're not slowing down at all. I just found a message, from my dad." He started and Shane widened his eyes, taking a bit of a step back.

"What!" Lori interjected before Carl could continue. Carl held out the note and Lori snatched it from him, effectively ripping it in two parts. He handled it better than he ever could have expected himself to, and simply stared down at the ripped piece of paper for a moment before dropping his half and addressing the group once again. He didn't need material things to remember his father by anymore, he would see him as soon as they got to D.C.

"My dad's in D.C, with Judith. And he also has Hershel, and Beth, and Hershel's other daughter Maggie. If you guys don't want to go with me that's fine, but I'm going, and I'm going to get there no matter what." Carl said and everyone around him nodded.

Sasha stepped in and spoke. "We've never, as a group, had more of a reason to push forward, to  _make it._ And this is it, this is where we  _make it_. So get your shit together, we're done taking a break."

* * *

_Rick's Group, the day that Daryl and Aaron go out._

Rick enveloped Daryl in a tight hug right on front of the gates. When he pulled away, Daryl was blushing a little and looked uncomfortable but also had a hint of a grin on his face. "Don't worry too much while I'm gone." Daryl said.

"There's a reason I haven't let you out of my sight since the hospital." Rick said and drew him into another deep hug. Pulling away slightly he pressed a chaste kiss to Daryl's forehead. "Be safe." He whispered.

"I will be." Daryl promised.

"Don't forget I'm looking out for him." Aaron said with a toothy grin.

Rick gave a small smile and then let his face darken slightly. "If you return without him--" He started and Aaron just laughed.

"Eric would say the same thing if Daryl came back without me, but it's not going to happen." Aaron assured.

"Alright, the goodbyes have to end at some point boys, it's already well past dawn." Deanna said. Daryl grumbled something about how it was kind of hard to get up when he was so sore, and Rick swatted him on the butt for that. With one last quick kiss, Daryl and Aaron drove out of Alexandria, and for the first time since they'd met each other, Rick willingly watched Daryl leave for longer than a few hours.

Daryl was thinking the same thing, but about having to leave Rick. He was already kind of uneasy, having to drive behind Aaron. He was used to sitting in the passenger seat, holding Judith on his lap and feeling Rick's strong hand on his thigh. Now he was in the driver's seat of the van and Aaron in the car.

"Trust me Daryl, Eric and I go out all the time, and his broken ankle was just a fluke the last time." Aaron reassured and Daryl nodded, leaning into the seat and getting ready for a bit of a drive.

The CD in the car was something old and funky that Daryl couldn't really get down with, but it wasn't like he had a lot of options, so he spent the better part of the drive till sundown memorizing all the words to the the song  _Hot Stuff_ but he was pretty burnt out by the time the sun set. They had driven around 130 miles to Petersberg and decided to call it a night. They set up small wired around an out cropping of trees that would tip them off to walkers trying to get in.

"Thanks for coming out with me Daryl, Glenn had offered to go too, but I was glad that you wanted to come with me." Aaron said as he tried to get a fire started.

"Yeah, of course. Nothin else to do." He said and sharpened his knife as he sat on his pack.

They sat in silence for a moment as Aaron tried to start the fire before Daryl held up his hand to silence the man. "Do ya hear that?" He asked, pointed down wind to his left. It was faint, but there were the noises of someone else setting up camp, a larger group.

Aaron sat still for a few moment before nodding. "We should scope it out." He said, keeping his voice down now that he was aware of the other people.

"Is that what you guys usually do?" Daryl asked, getting up and picking his pack off the ground with a wince at the crunching leaves underneath him.

"Yeah, we watch them for a while, they decide if they're good to join us." Aaron explained and Daryl nodded.

"I'll get in close, you stay here." Daryl said.

"Alright, but keep it close to the chest, if they seem dangerous head back immediately."

Daryl agreed and started a silent trek towards the noises.

Daryl was good at keeping himself unheard and could effectively disappear into the woods if he wanted to. It was a good skill, but he hadn't had as much use for it in the zombie apocalypse as he'd had when he was hunting for food pre-outbreak. But Daryl quickly shifted himself back into stealth mode and held his crossbow out in front of him.

He slowed his roll a little as he got nearer and could see lit fires. Daryl got as close as he dared and found himself a comfortable spot to sit in. He wouldn't get any closer until the talking died down a bit and he knew that most of them were asleep, even though he was sure there would be someone standing watch, Daryl didn't want to have to take on  _all_ of them if they were bad people.

He listened in on their conversations for a while and drifted into his own thoughts. He'd noticed recently, that talk between him and Rick had become less about Merle, and more about Carl. He remembered early on when all of this started, when Rick had been the only one who had been able to instill any hope in Daryl that his brother was still alive, he obviously didn't have any hope himself. And now that there was proof his son was alive, something actually tangible-- Daryl wondered where Merle fell into all of it.

Merle was someone who Daryl didn't think about often anymore, among so many fated family reunions, and miracles, Daryl wondered if there was any hope left to be had for the Dixon's. A small corner in the back of Daryl's mind told him that Merle was dead, had been dead a long time, and was probably turning blue of a drug overdose since before all of this happened. His brother had been going down hill, and Daryl was the only one to watch his slow departure into depravity.

If he was, however, alive, than Daryl could only hope that he would be a changed man. Another part of Daryl just knew,  _knew,_ that when Carl rolled up to the gates of Alexandria, or when he and Aaron found the group out on the road, that Merle was gonna be right there, ruffling Carl's hair and being the brotherly presence that he used to be to Daryl, so long ago.

He had to pipe down his own thoughts for a moment though when he heard talking close to him.

" _That boy killed Andrea, Lori, he killed her. There is no redemption to be had for a little kid who kills other human beings."_

 _"He's my son, Shane, and although I haven't been acting the part too much recently, I'll have you remember that makes me his_ mother.  _So unless you want to talk about him with a little respect? Get out of here."_

_"You can't say you aren't scared though, Lor, think of what he could do, he's a wildcard."_

_"He's just a little kid--"_

_"More like a little killer! We need to do something about him, and we need to do it tonight. We're almost to D.C. You saw what Lizzie did to Mika, just think of what Carl could do to any of us if he thinks we crossed him."_

_"I don't like what you're suggesting Shane."_

_"Now, I know you don't Lori, and that's not what I'm saying. I don't want to_ kill  _him, hell I still have too much respect for his father--"_

_"--you have no respect for Rick, you've shown us all that."_

_"As I was_ saying,  _but I still wouldn't kill the boy. Let me get him when everyone's sleeping. I'll take him out a couple of miles, leave him with some food and water, tell that oaf who follows him around where he is, and in the morning we'll say the two of them took off."_

 _"You want to get_ rid  _of my son?"_

_"I want to save the group."_

_"I'm going to bed Shane Walsh, you make your decision and you leave."_

Daryl zoned back into himself and out of their conversation with a stewing feeling in his stomach. There was very little chance that another group of people named Shane, Lori, and Carl existed who knew of a Rick. So Daryl was sure that he'd found the right group, but that whole conversation had been so off. Something about it almost sounded unbelievable to Daryl, like this Shane guy couldn't actually do it, and the impassiveness in Lori's voice had been a clue to that option.

But there was something else that Daryl recognized, a little undertone that reminded him of his father, just a little bit of crazy in Shane's voice. Daryl made up his mind to trail Shane in the group until he did something shifty. In the morning he and Aaron could talk to the group, spread the good news to Carl, but right now as the fires were being put out Daryl decided to put his crossbow down and blend into the darkness.

With no light to illuminate him by, no one would be able to tell him from anyone else in the group. He saw a couple men around, and woman with similar hair to him, it was pitch black and he would just be another silhouette moving among the shadows.

Daryl trailed Shane, sucking in a breath when he entered the camp, but noticing that not one of the ten people in the group noticed their newest addition. Most of them were asleep, and others were just not paying attention.

All the way to the other edge of the sleeping bags Daryl followed Shane, until the man stopped over the prone body of a young boy. Daryl wouldn't give himself time to think about the fact that this was Carl, that this was the one person that would make the man he loves complete again. If he thought about that he would get emotional, and there wasn't time for that right now.

Daryl noticed another figure in the tree line watching Carl. He stood completely shaded and Daryl only just saw the glint of his eyes. The man had also obviously noticed Daryl, but wasn't raising any red flags or recognizing him as an outsider so Daryl didn't think too much of it. Unless this man was on Shane's side, than Daryl didn't have anything to worry about.

It seemed like forever, before Shane finally made his move, leaned over to Carl. The second Shane's hand touched Carl the boy shot up and started fighting back. Shane was obviously overpowering him and so Daryl tackled Shane to the ground, at just about the same time the other man from the shadows tackled Shane. Daryl held one arm with his knee painfully shoved in Shane's back, and the other man held an arm as well.

By that point people were getting up, flashlights were getting turned on, and guns were being pointed.

"Carl, Carl are you okay?" A slim-faced black woman asked and suddenly the light was directly on Daryl.

"Who are you?" An older lady with gray hair asked, pointing a gun at his nose, and looking like she didn't give a fuck about him.

"I'm sorry for busting in on ya'lls group I'm--" Daryl was cut off by the voice next to him.

"My baby brother." Daryl turned his face to be met with the star-struck Merle Dixon sitting right next to him and holding Shane in a lock.

"M-merle?" Daryl muttered and in that moment Shane didn't matter. He let go of Shane and tackled Merle to the group, pulling him into a huge hug, with the intent to never let go. "Merle Dixon I thought I'd never see you again." Daryl said, trying to keep himself from going all blubbery

Merle wrapped his arms strongly around Daryl and just held onto him. They were both aware that curious eyes were on them but neither cared. "Oh baby brother I thought I'd left you for dead in that hospital." He said.

When the two finally pulled apart from one another they had to laugh at their own theatrics. The Dixon's weren't really known for rolling on the ground hugging, or even for really liking each other.

Merle finally got up off the ground and pulled Daryl right along with him. "Well everybody, I suppose I should introduce you to my brother, Daryl Dixon." Merle said, they had the attention of everyone in the group and there were a few brightly smiling faces. Shane hadn't made a run for it yet, or the unassuming silver haired lady was holding a gun to him, Daryl couldn't quite tell.

"You're Daryl! Merle's told me so much about you." A boy, about fifteen said. He stood in front of Daryl with an off-center sheriff's hat that wasn't quite his size, he had on a dirty tee shirt and equally dirty jeans. He was an unassuming kid with hair like Daryl's and the biggest blue eyes Daryl'd ever seen--except on one other person. That thought alone made silent tears stream down Daryl's face in embarrassing droves.

"Hey Carl," he started, the boy already looking taken aback, and Daryl having to muster all of the masculinity left in him to not break down into tears right there. "Your dad's told me a lot about you-- I like the hat."

Carl stared up at Daryl with an inquisitive expression for a long moment before breaking into a grin. "We made it! He's really here? Where is he?" Carl asked, looking like he had a million more questions to ask.

The slim-faced woman spoke up in that moment. "I'm Sasha," she said, introducing herself briefly before moving on, "why don't we get camp packed up? If we've really made it, then there's no time to spare." She said with a grin. Around the little bubble that Daryl had formed, with Carl standing in front of him and Merle standing glue-stuck to his side, everyone else bustled.

"He's close, about a hundred miles away in the town of Alexandria. We can make it there by sunset tomorrow. You can see you dad, and your baby sister Judy but tomorrow." Daryl said, having a hard time keeping it together at the thought. This reunion had been over a year in the making, and it was finally coming to a culmination tomorrow. It would all be over and they could live out the rest of their days in Alexandria. "I have another person with me, and we have two cars, enough room for everyone if we squeeze a little. You guys stay here, I'll go get him and the cars, and we can leave in the morning." Daryl said and Carl nodded.

"You go, take Merle with you, that way I know you'll come back. I'll tell everyone else the plan." Carl said.

"You sound just like your dad." Daryl expressed. There was a sheen of wet over Carl's eyes then and he sniffled lightly.

Before Daryl left the camp Carl crushed him into a giant hug and Daryl held him for a moment. "I'll be back Carl, don't worry."

* * *

The morning almost felt like Christmas, with all the happiness around the group. He'd been introduced to everyone, and after explaining just how phenomenal the community that he and Aaron were in was, they all seemed on board, even if they hadn't previously just been excited to watch Carl's reunion with his father.

Over the night Daryl had ended up tying Shane's hands and feet together, labeling him prisoner and ominously telling Shane that ' _Deanna will decide what to do with you.'_ even though Daryl knew Deanna would probably give it up to Rick anyway.

Aaron drove the van, that was loaded up with most everyone, and Daryl took the car this time, which had: Shane, Lori, Carl, and Merle in it. Merle sat right beside Daryl and made an off-color comment about his baby brother finally taking the driver's seat that made Daryl just smile and hug him some more. This day was going to be good, and Daryl couldn't wait to watch it unfold. They had a bit of a drive first, but he was sure that would go by like nothing.

"So, tell us a story baby brother, what's life been like since the ambulance took you away from Casa Dixon?" Merle asked, rather insensitively, since he was the one that had basically led to Daryl's ambulance ride, but he didn't mention it.

Daryl fell into an easy conversation with his brother, practically forgetting everyone else in the car. "It's been pretty crazy. First, Rick and I make it out of the hospital, meet some helpful folks who get us better up to speed on the whole situation at hand. We don't spend too long with them-after a run in with some psycho cops at Grady Memorial. We're driving around basically following you guys as Rick and I have come to piece together. It was only recently that we got ahead of you. See we picked up this Korean kid, Glenn--"

"Glenn Rhee?" Carl inputs and Daryl screws his eyebrows all funny.

"Yeah, how's ya know?"

"He was in our group in the beginning." Merle supplied.

"Huh, I guess our survival stories are more intertwined than we thought," Daryl said, taking a moment to think about just how crazy all of their near-runins had been. "Anyway, we're convinced to go South by this lady who heard a radio broadcast..." Daryl goes off on the story, mentioning basically everything and learning just how insanely close they'd been to running into each other the whole time. "But now I have my family back, I have new family, everything turning out insanely good." Daryl finally finished.

Merle gave him a raised brow, which usually meant 'do tell,' but Daryl just gave him a confused look. "New family? You going off without me? Did ya finally find a man handsome enough to suit your needs?" Merle asked which brought a red flush to Daryl's cheeks. If there was one thing Merle knew how to do, it was how to embarrass Daryl, and to also bring up the worst possible topic that he could around the family of the man he was in love with.

Daryl thought for a moment if he should tell them, or if Rick should, but he finally decided that it wasn't that big of a deal, they would need to learn at some point, and now was as good of a time as any. "It's actually, I felt like I shouldn't keep all of you guys from knowing, so that nothing's awkward or anything when we get there. It's actually, uh, Rick and I, we're in a bit of a relationship you could say." Daryl said, then quickly amended it: "a lot of a relationship actually, like the real deal." Daryl said, hoping he was getting clearer and didn't just sound like he was weirdly explaining a friendship.

"Rick's gay?" Lori asked from the back, speaking up for the first time.

"Well, I guess he is now." Is what Daryl left it at, he didn't want to dive into anything. They didn't talk much more but Merle gave him a coy smile.

* * *

Daryl could finally see the gates to Alexandria in the distance and he felt himself start to tear up just a little.

"Damn brother, didn't know they made you a girl." Merle jeered and Daryl elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shut up, this is emotional, dickwad." Daryl said, rather eloquently and slowed the car down as the gates were pulled back. "Just let me get out first and tell Deanna that we got new people, no chaotic reunions before the community is warned." He said with a bit of a laugh but he choked on it a little when he saw Rick standing there, right on the other side of the gate like he'd been waiting for Daryl to get back.

Sliding out of the car Daryl couldn't help himself but just start crying, he sucked his lip back and tried to keep himself from making noise but Rick noticed immediately and was by his side, holding him tight. "Is anything wrong, what's wrong baby?" Rick asked gently and Daryl just shook his head before motioning behind him, towards the short kid who'd slid out of the car despite what Daryl had said.

"Dad?"

"Oh God Carl." Rick said and Daryl stepped out of his way as Carl all but fell into his fathers arms. Ricks hugged Carl so tight that Daryl saw the kids feet leave the ground of a moment and Carl just let out harsh sobs into Rick's jacket.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Carl forced out between broken breaths.

"But you never lost hope, Beth told me you never lost hope." Rick breathed and just took in the scent, the feel, the look of his son. He was older, but he was still just the little Carl that he had remembered. Rick just couldn't stop hugging on him.

"Daryl told me you didn't either, I knew we'd find you. I always did." Carl said and that just made the two of them cry harder into each other.

* * *

It was later that night, Rick sat at the far end of the dining room table, Carl to his left, Daryl to his right (and holding his hand gently on top of the table), that they shared their stories with each other. Lori even joined it, telling everything that had happened from her perspective.

Daryl could see an obvious animosity between Lori and Carl, a rift that he doubted could ever be fixed, but as she sat and told her story of losing hope in Rick, and then in Shane, Daryl couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. Not a lot, but a little.

Carl was holding Judith on his knee and Rick was softly stroking her wispy hair. Shane was in the single cell that they had, and everyone else was having their interviews with Deanna. Later in the night when Lori left and it was just Daryl leaning into Rick, the mans strong arm around his middle, and Carl on the other side, leaning into Rick as well, Judith sitting on Rick's lap and cooing softly, the knowledge that Merle was in his own building, safe and away from walkers, that was when Daryl felt content for the first time since this had all started.

Rick carded his hand through Daryl's hair and Daryl's didn't realize it, but he said out loud: "It's not just Daryl and Rick against the world anymore."


End file.
